Lost in a Different Twilight
by Heartless Nobody
Summary: POST KH2  Riku was supposed to be enjoying some long deserved R&R from the battles against the Heartless. Instead, he finds himself a long way from home caught in the middle of a battle for the planet Mobius. Crossover with SatAM Sonic the Hedgehog.
1. Key to Mobius

(Hey, all! Heartless Nobody/Zero-Cross here, with a new fic inspired by this odd little dream I had, involving Riku lost in the world of SatAM and caught in the middle of the war between the Freedom Fighters and Robotnik. This is possibly the very first crossover ever, between SatAM Sonic the Hedgehog, and Kingdom Hearts. I don't own KH or SatAM; the former's own by Square Enix and Disney, while the latter's owned by DIC.)

CHAPTER 1

Peace and quiet; something that once seemed all too familiar and boring for Destiny Islands was now a welcome and cherished thing for this world. With this world and its inhabitant's safe, sound, and secured, with hearts in tact, peace and quiet would win over excitement any day; especially if excitement meant utter chaos. Utter chaos was what was brought to Destiny Islands with the arrival of the Heartless. Both this world and its people had lost their hearts to the darkness; doomed to spend an eternity in oblivion. But hope shined for this doomed world, in the form of the legendary weapon known as the Keyblade. Its bearer, Sora, had saved this world as well as the whole universe from the brink of destruction; but he wasn't on his own, as he had friends across the universe on his side. Now with the universe safe from the Heartless, all worlds could rest easy at night, knowing that they were safe from harm.

Riku never thought he'd actually enjoy peace and quiet in his life. He was always the one who wanted to branch out and explore; always curious if there were any other worlds out there aside from his own. The adventures just seemed to play over in his mind over and over; from the first adventure where he had allowed himself to be corrupted by the darkness within, to his path of redemption, and finally to his acceptance of the darkness and fighting by Sora's side to protect Kingdom Hearts. But now, tranquility seemed to suit him just fine as he slept peacefully in bed; something he hadn't done in a long time.

_RIKU…_ A soft genderless voice echoed through the air like a breeze.

Riku yawned and opened his eyes slightly, wondering what he had just heard. Shrugging it off as just a dream, he laid back in his pillow and drifted back to sleep.

_RIKU,_ the voice whispered again.

Riku's eyes shot open slightly. "Somebody called me?" He wondered aloud and looked about his room a little. "Huh…it must be my imagination." He lay himself back down and shut his eyes.

_RIKU!_ The whispering became louder.

Riku sat up in bed, now knowing full well the voice wasn't a dream. "Who's there?" He shouted as he took a better look around the room, seeing nothing but the darkness brought about by the night, along with the soft faint silhouettes of objects in his room.

_RIKU,_ the voice whispered like the wind, _COME…COME TO THE BEACH…_

Riku gripped his sheets warily and narrowed his eyes in suspicion, "Is that you Ansem!?" He shouted, thinking Ansem/Xehanort's Heartless had somehow resurfaced and was trying to take control of him again.

…_COME…TO THE BEACH…ALL WILL BE SHOWN TO YOU… _The voice kept echoing out like a gentle breeze.

Riku's suspicion turned into confusion now, as he threw off his bed sheets and swung his feet over the side of the bed. If it were Ansem/Xehanort's Heartless, would the voice have sounded so coaxing and gentle? "…Who are you?" He asked.

_COME…JUST COME…_

Knowing that this voice was just not going to let him be, Riku quickly slipped on his black shirt, blue jeans and white jacket, before tiptoeing downstairs from his room. He quietly walked down, step by step, careful as to not make the stairs creak too loudly, for fear of waking up his family, or as to miss a step and tumble down the stairs. When he finally reached the bottom, he reached into his right jean pocket and pulled out his house keys; inserting them into the lock on the door knob and turning the knob slowly. He walked out of the door and closed it behind him, loosening up now that he was outside with no problem. He quickly ran to the direction of the docks, to get a boat to cross to the islands with.

_RIKU…RIKU…COME RIKU…_

The voice echoed and whistled all around Riku as he paddled his rowboat towards the islands where he played with Sora and Kairi. He was more determined then ever to uncover just WHO was calling his name and what he/she/it wanted. As Riku pushed the hours through the dark ocean waters, he looked over his shoulder and saw the island getting closer. He pushed and rowed harder, as the voice coaxed him further, until he heard and felt a loud "BAM!" and fell onto his back on the floor of the rowboat.

Groaning a little, Riku picked himself up out of the boat and looked at his surroundings, finding himself upon the shore of the island; but the mysterious whisper had suddenly stopped the moment he had reached the island. Stepping out of the rowboat and onto the sandy beaches, the young man flicked his shoulder length shiver hair back as he looked around the beach, for any sign of the being who had been calling him. "Hello?" He called, "Are you still here? I've come to the beach just like you wanted me to! Now what?" Riku waited, but no answer seemed to come. "Hello?" Riku called again, but still no voice. "I don't believe this…" he growled, "Whoever's out there calls me and calls me, chanting my name, but when I finally do show up they decide to keep quiet."

_RIKU!_ The whisper shouted out once more, carrying across the air of the island.

Riku started looking all about the island for ANY sign of someone other than himself on the island. "Alright, enough! Either tell me why I'm out here, or I'm going back home!" He yelled, getting a little fed up with this nagging mysterious voice. Before he could say or do another thing however, an immense portal of black energy suddenly opened up right underneath Riku's feet and began to absorb him like a sponge that absorbs water. Riku cried out and tried to run, but he felt like he was sinking in a patch of quicksand or slurry. "AGH! What's going on!? Am I being sent back to the world of darkness again!? Sora! Kairi! Tidus! Anybody! Help me!" Riku was now stuck in the mass of black energy up to his waist, and quickly sinking up to his neck. Crying out one more time as his head sunk into the mass of darkness, Riku raised a helpless desperate hand, reaching out for anyone; but nobody came as Riku's hand sunk back into the pit of darkness and everything went black. Riku could not see anything, hear anything, or even feel anything as he was absorbed into absolute darkness.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

"Hmmm, what's going on here?" A short balding needle nosed man asked out loud as he gazed at the computer radar in front of him. Up in the high right hand corner of the radar, a strange red blip started flashing on the screen, indicating the presence of a foreign life form. "Computer! Analyze life form and screen a close up as soon as possible!" The man ordered in a nasally voice.

ACKNOWLEDGED, the monotone voice of the computer bellowed out as it began its work.

"Snively!" A deep booming voice barked out.

Snively jumped a bit, sweating nervously, as he turned around to see the source of the bellowing voice. A large man walked into the room with a malevolent air about him. His gargantuan body was about 6 feet in length and 5 feet in width, making him a very LARGE man in deed. His blubbery body was dressed up in a large spandex outfit; red on the top, black on the bottom, with grey leggings along with a pair of red and grey spandex boots on his feet. His large oval head came up to a point on top and his malicious looking face bore a bushy orange moustache. The deep red pupils of his black eyes studied Snively for a moment before gazing at the radar. "Snively what ARE you doing?" The man demanded.

"Robotnik, sir," Snively addressed the man a little nervously; "We have a foreign life form in the vicinity of Robotropolis. I was just receiving a close up image of him from the security cameras."

"A foreign life form, you say?" Robotnik questioned seriously, intrigued, but also a little annoyed, "Is it that blasted hedgehog, the princess, or one of those other miserable fur balls?"

The close-up image popped up on one of the other screens, showing the image of the target on the radar; however the life form was no animal. In the corner of a dark alleyway, surrounded by random piles of scrap metal and machine parts, a young teenage boy of 16 years lay sprawled out on the ground, unconscious; he had shoulder length silver hair, gentle yet serious features on his face, and was dressed in an outfit that consisted of blue jeans with a white belt, black and white sneakers, a black t-shirt with a zipper in the middle, and a short white jacket.

"Well what's this?" Robotnik asked aloud with surprise, "It's not one of the freedom fighters at all… It appears to be another human being, much like ourselves."

"Dr Robotnik, sir," Snively interrupted as he sat in front of another computer, reading some odd readings from the radar, "the human boy seems to be giving off some strange energy readings, quite unlike the power signatures from the power stones. The power he seems to be radiating is not from this world; neither light nor darkness."

"Really? Not of this world power you say?" Robotnik's interest was caught, "interesting…" He rubbed his chin in thought, "Snively, make sure to keep an eye on that boy. Don't let him out of your sight until I can have a personal meeting with him."

"Of course, sir," Snively replied, "I'll send the Swatbots to subdue him."

"Make sure they do ONLY that," Robotnik ordered, putting his face in front of Snively, with a warning look, NOT wanting to repeat himself, "Do you understand? I want that boy, ALIVE."

"Y-Yes, s-sir…" Snively stammered nervously as Robotnik took his face out of his own. 'Fat stupid idiot, I was well aware that you wanted him alive,' he thought irritably.

Meanwhile, Riku began to come to his senses, moaning and stirring as he slowly opened his eyes. When his fuzzy vision finally cleared, he was met with the image of a dark, smoky looking sky, with smokestacks and giant metallic looking buildings reaching up to the murky clouds of smoke. "Ugh, my head…" Riku groaned as he sat up, "Where am I?" He looked around the alleyway, seeing nothing but machine parts and scrap metal around him, "Looks like I'm not on Destiny Islands anymore. Where the hell did that warp hole take me too?" He stood on his two feet and walked out of the alleyway, onto the streets. Before Riku, there stood an immense city of iron and steel. Giant towers of metal reached up into the sky, robots marched and floated about the dirt streets, machines whirred and hummed nearby the buildings, and more metal pieces and machine parts littered and piled the streets. "Well," Riku said to himself as he gazed about his surroundings, "this place is definitely too hi-tech and industrial looking to be the World That Never Was. What IS this place, anyway?"

PYOU! PYOU! PYOU!

Riku quickly dodge rolled out of the way as a barrage of laser shots rained down on where he once stood. When he looked back up, he found himself surrounded by a platoon of black humanoid robots with dome shaped heads, each one pointing a rifle directly at him.

WARNING! WARNING! CEASE MOVEMENT AT ONCE INTRUDER, OR BE TERMINATED! The lead robot demanded.

Riku studied the robots carefully, look at them from top to bottom intensively. "No symbol…" he said to himself, "so these things are neither Heartless nor Nobody." He slowly stood up straight.

CEASE MOVEMENT AND STAND DOWN! THIS IS YOUR LAST WARNING! The lead robot cocked his gun and pointed it threateningly at Riku.

Riku snorted and smirked. "Threatening ME, are you?" He held out his right hand to the side where light and dark energy streams materialized out of thin air and began to mold and twist into an odd key/sword shape. When the energy dissipated, Riku's Way to the Dawn Keyblade appeared in his hand; a bat winged shaped Keyblade with angel wing handles, an angel wing "tooth," and a Heartless symbol keychain. Taking the weapon in his right hand, raising it to the same height as his head, sticking his elbow out and pointing the tip of the Keyblade towards his enemies, Riku stood ready to fight. "Now which one of you rust buckets wants to go first?"

INTRUDER IS RESISTING! The lead robot bellowed. ALL SWATBOTS COMMENCE ATTACK! All of the SWATbots stood and opened fire.

"DARK AURA!" Riku held out a hand and a shield of energy, looking like a small wall of glowing octagons, generated in front of him and deflected all of the laser shots fire upon him.

ERROR! ERROR! WEAPON FIRE HAS NO EFFECT! The lead SWATbot warned the others.

"No shit, dome head," Riku said with a dangerous smile as he brandished his Keyblade, "now it's MY turn." He lifted into the air, as the robots pointed their guns at him, threatening to shoot again. "DARK AURA!" Riku shot towards the SWATbots like a bullet and his Keyblade cleaved right through the lead SWATbot's metal armor like a hot knife through butter, slicing through circuits and wires and severing parts and segments of the robot, before Riku changed direction instantly and cleaved through another SWATbot. Riku slashed through eight SWATbots at the speed of light, confusing the robots greatly, before landing and stabbing the ground, sending out black flames and incinerating another five SWATbots.

HALT! CEASE YOUR ATTACK! Another group of SWATbots began to advance on Riku, firing at him repeatedly.

With another Dark Aura, Riku blocked the laser shots, before charging up a mass of black flames in his hand and firing a medium sized fire ball directly at the robots, causing a small explosion and sending a shower of parts everywhere. Six more SWATbots ran out to grab Riku, but he struck first and landed a flurry of blows against their metallic hides before giving a quick spin attack, knocking them away from him and into the walls, shattering some of them.

Robotnik watched Riku intensely, as the boy fought valiantly against his SWATbots, his eyes full of amazement as the grin on his face grew wider. "Oh yes… Oh yes! Snively, do you see what I see?"

"It's amazing sir!" Snively said as he read the collected data from the computer fax, "Whoever this boy is, these power readings he and that strange sword are releasing are completely unheard of! It might even be enough to rival Sonic's speed!"

"Exactly what I was thinking Snively," Robotnik said softly as he stared at the image of Riku, "This boy and his strange power are exactly what I need to finally stomp out those accused rodents! Especially that hedgehog! Oh yes," the fat dictator rubbed his hands gleefully as he watched Riku swing down from the air and cleave the last SWATbot in half, "this boy could very well be our new secret weapon."

TO BE CONTINUED


	2. The Ruler of Mobius?

(Well, I hope you liked the opening chapter; because here comes the next one! Robotnik's seen Riku in action now, so what plans does he have for the Key bearer of the Twilight? Read and find out my friends. I don't own Kingdom Hearts or SatAM as you know.)

CHAPTER 2

Riku huffed and panted lightly as he looked about the mess of SWATbot remains around him. Tucking his Keyblade into his belt for the time being, Riku bent over to pick up one of the SWATbot's dome shaped heads and examined it closely. He ran a hand over the dark blue metal, right up to the pointy tip, and took a close look at the infrared visor "eye" of the head. "What the hell are these SWATbots, anyway? They're really nothing like the Heartless and Nobodies, that's for sure. I wonder who built these things…" A loud whirring noise suddenly caught Riku's attention, making him drop the robot's head. When he looked to his right, a strange flying machine was hovering towards his direction.

The egg-shaped flying machine was bright red up top around its cockpit, while the underside was black. The cockpit sported a five window windshield; two smaller windows on both sides with one large window in the middle. A searchlight was mounted on the bottom right below the cockpit. Finally, there was a small laser cannon mounted on the top of the ship.

Riku placed his hand in the handle of Way to the Dawn, wondering if reinforcements were arriving. "That's the trouble with robots," Riku remarked, "They don't know WHEN to quit." He watched as the small ship landed right in front of him and he pulled out his Keyblade; raising it above his head in a thrusting position once more and ready to attack whomever emerged from the door on the side. With a small hiss, the circular doors at the side of the ship opened wide, revealing a large obese mustachioed man in black and red spandex with a long yellow cape flowing behind him.

Robotnik stepped out of his ship and began to walk towards the mysterious boy. 'There he is,' the mustachioed man thought to himself, 'now to put my plan into action.' He put on a seemingly friendly and apologetic smile. "Greetings, my boy," he spoke with (mock) friendliness, "oh I'm so sorry about my SWATbots attacking you like that."

"Those were YOUR robots?" Riku asked with disgruntlement evident in his voice, "they seemed hell-bent on frying me with their lasers."

"Ah, well you see," Robotnik explained, "my city of Robotropolis has been under tight security as of late due to terrorism. I had given them strict orders to subdue and bring in any foreign intruders."

"Robotropolis? Is that what this place is called?" Riku asked, lowering his Keyblade. "I've never heard of any city with that name. But then again, I'm not exactly from around these parts," he admitted as he looked around the city, "so I've never seen anything so…industrial looking."

'Not from around here, is he?' Robotnik thought with glee, 'that will make it all the more easier.' "Oh, how rude of me not to introduce myself," Robotnik exclaimed with fake realization, "My name is Doctor Ivo Robotnik, formerly known as Julian Kintobor. I am the rightful ruler of planet Mobius," he grinned proudly yet arrogantly and bowed.

'Planet…Mobius?' Riku thought with confusion, 'so I've been warped to another world again.' This all seemed too familiar for Riku, as if it were a repeat of what happened when he opened the door to Destiny Islands, thereby releasing the Heartless into his world; when he was swallowed up into the darkness, slowly consumed by the darkness in his heart and becoming a pawn of Ansem/Xehanort's Heartless. Yet this time seemed different, as he was not consumed by his own free will and there were no Heartless present; nor were there any Nobodies. Something different had transported Riku here; whether it was good or evil he wasn't sure, but he was determined not to be used for evil again.

Unfortunately, Riku's confusion at the name "Mobius" did not go unnoticed by Robotnik, who couldn't have been more ecstatic. 'So, he knows nothing of me or Mobius, hm? And by his clothes and that strange sword he wields; he's most likely not even of this dimension or planet,' he snuck a look at Riku's Keyblade, 'what an odd looking weapon, that is; a sword shaped like a key. Snively's reading stated that a strange unearthly power was emanating from it. I must have this boy's power on my side, before the Freedom Fighters get a hold of him.' "Well, now that you know who I am, would you care to tell me your name?" He held out his right hand of flesh and blood to Riku for a handshake.

"The name's Riku," Riku introduced himself and shook Robotnik's hand. The moment his hand touched Robotnik's however, his mind froze as he suddenly felt Robotnik's heart essence; an essence of pure malevolence and hatred, with the desire to dominate over all living things. 'This essence,' Riku thought, 'It feels just like when I first Ansem…or rather, Xehanort's Heartless,' he recalled, remembering the Heartless leader who had seduced him to the side of the Heartless. Putting the warning thoughts on hold for a moment, Riku noticed Robotnik's cybernetic left arm; his eyes widened at the very sight of the mechanical arm. "What in the-"

"Ah, you're probably wondering why my left arm is mechanical," Robotnik assumed and immediately thought up of a good lie, so as not to arouse Riku's suspicion, "years ago a group of eco-terrorists had stormed my laboratory, demanding a halt to my research and mechanics. I tried to reason with them, saying that my machines were for the good of Mobius, but they wouldn't listen; they said that planet had no need for machines and that I was "tainting the soil." So, they brutally severed my left arm off," Robotnik feigned disgrace and shame, "ever since then, I had this robotic one grafted on. But it hasn't ceased… There have been sabotages, bombings, and other terrible acts on my fair city for all the wrong reasons. The offenders merely use "for the good of nature and the planet" as an excuse for their atrocities."

Riku narrowed his eyes as Robotnik's deceitful words washed over him. "That's terrible! They don't even sound like they're for the planet at all!"

"They're not," Robotnik lied even further, "They're merely a techno phobic group who has the false assumption that we'll all become too dependant on machines, and want to put a stop to progress using the most violent methods possible." He watched as Riku's eyes narrowed further in anger and his lips curved into an angry scowl. 'The fish has taken the bait,' he thought with satisfactory, 'now it's time to reel in today's catch.'

'These guys sound no better than Organization XIII,' Riku thought angrily, 'but I don't know…is what he's saying true? I don't want to jump into any wrong conclusions…'

"Riku, perhaps we should take this conversation elsewhere," Robotnik suggested, "in case the Freedom Fighters might be listening."

"Freedom Fighters…so that's what they're called?" Riku snorted, "Some freedom THEY'RE fighting for. Alright, I'll come with you. I want to know more about these "Freedom" Fighters."

'And the fish has been put on the ice,' Robotnik thought in triumph, "Excellent. Come with me to my inner sanctum, Riku," he ordered as he walked through the open doors of his ship.

Riku followed close behind and entered the ship, the circular doors closing behind him. He saw Robotnik seated in the pilot seat on the left hand side, and walked over to sit in the right side seat as Robotnik switched on the engine.

The pod ship began to whir again as it lifted up off the ground, blowing a cloud of dirt around as it took off. The ship then turned around in mid air and hovered deeper into the city of Robotropolis.

"Feel free to look out the window and see the sights of Robotropolis," Robotnik offered.

Riku was already looking out the window, however, and was amazed by the mechanical city below them. He had never seen anything so metallic and mechanical in his life; not in any of the worlds he had traveled to. The giant metal buildings, the machines moving and flying about the streets and air, and the robots that patrolled the various sectors of the city all seemed so foreign to him.

"Amazing isn't it?" Robotnik asked Riku rhetorically as they neared the tallest building in the center of Robotropolis, "what you see before you is an example of the wonders of technology and science."

The red pod ship hovered through the air and to the top of the central citadel of Robotropolis; a long runaway was seen sticking out of the side of the citadel and leading to a doorway to the building structure. The pod lowered itself onto the far end of the runaway, releasing a small gust of wind as it landed near a small set of stairs.

"We're here Riku," Robotnik announced, "follow me into my chambers and I will explain it all to you." He stood up from his seat and walked towards the ships doors, stepping down the steps where he was met by a set of saluting swatBOTs and an eagerly awaiting Snively.

"Dr Robotnik, sir, welcome back," Snively saluted, "what is the status of the mysterious boy, if you don't mind my asking?"

"The "mysterious boy" has a name," Robotnik simply barked to Snively, "and I expect you to give him the same amount or respect as you give to me."

"The name's Riku," Riku announced as he stepped out.

"Ah, yes, Riku," Snively bowed, "Welcome to Robotropolis, sir. I hope you enjoy your stay… As long as you don't irritate that fat fool," he muttered the last sentence under his breath.

"WHAT was that Snively!?" Apparently, Snively did not mutter quietly enough to go unheard by Robotnik.

Snively squeaked a bit before trying to cover up his muttered insult, "I-uh-said, as long as you don't fall into any oil pools," he lied, sweating a bit.

Robotnik just growled before heading down the runaway, his yellow cape flowing out behind him.

Riku cast an uneasy look between Snively and Robotnik, also overhearing Snively's muttered insult. 'Eesh, for Snively being a right-hand man, he and Robotnik don't seem to have that good of a relationship,' he thought as he quickly ran and caught up with Robotnik, followed by Snively close on his heels.

The circular door opened up for the trio breaking into four quarters and opening up, letting the three males inside Robotnik's chambers. Inside there was one large padded mechanical chair with a control booth, surrounded by a great computer with many surveillance monitors.

Robotnik walked up to his chair and seated himself in it, before turning it towards Snively and Riku. "Welcome, to my inner sanctum, Riku. Here is where I run all my base of operations and monitor my city. I also record and store every security tape onto the computer. It's here where I'll show you the faces of the ones who smear the name of Planet Mobius." Robotnik pressed his index finger against a bright yellow button underneath a camera shaped icon. "Computer! Play security tape H-84," he ordered.

PROCESSING, the mechanized voice of Robotnik's computer echoed, and one monitor started to fizz and crackle with snowy static, before turning black as it uploaded a video.

Riku watched the monitor closely as the video picture flickered on.

The first image was of a small blue anthropomorphic hedgehog with white gloves and red sneakers, battling against SwatBOT guards. What was amazing about this video was HOW the hedgehog was fighting; running as fast as the wind, spinning around like a buzz saw through the robots, dodging laser fire with unseen grace and agility.

Riku's eyes widened as he watched the hedgehog fight; he had never seen any creature move at such a speed or seen a creature be so agile.

"That, Riku, is one of the "Freedom Fighters," and my arch nemesis, Sonic the Hedgehog," Robotnik explained, "His name, Sonic, is fitting as he can run at the speed of sound."

"Speed of sound!?" Riku was shocked as he watched the recording of Sonic run right through the SwatBOTs. "Damn, that's fast." He then watched as the image flickered to another recording, this time of Sonic with two females; one being a beautiful anthropomorphic ground squirrel with long ruby red hair, dressed in blue boots and a blue vest; the other being a cute anthropomorphic bunny girl dressed in a purple leotard, who seemed to have a robotic left arm, along with robotic legs.

"The squirrel is Princess Sally, the leader of those rambling rodents," Robotnik pointed to Sally, "she's the brains of the outfit along with her little handheld computer, Nicole. The other one is Bunnie Rabbot, the muscle; you'd best take care should you oppose her. Her metallic limbs can do some deadly damage to anything metal, so you wouldn't want to know what it could do to flesh and blood," he warned.

"I'll keep that in mind," Riku nodded. "Any others I should know about?"

"There is also Rotor," Robotnik pressed another button on his chair's control panel, and showed the image of a light purple anthropomorphic walrus with a yellow cap and utility belt across his shoulder. "He is the mechanical wizard of the group and has built many destructive yet intelligent devices; a lot of them have contributed to the sabotage of my fair city. The other two, you need not worry about," Robotnik clicked the button again showing the image of a small brown anthropomorphic fox, with white sneakers and two tails. "This is Tails, he can fly with those two tails of his, but he poses no threat whatsoever, unless it included worshipping that blasted hedgehog." Robotnik then switched to the image of an anthropomorphic coyote dressed in a red and blue guard's jacket and brown boots; he had yellow hair that was done in a 1920's hairstyle and bore a snooty look. "This is Antoine Depardieu, a pathetic excuse for a guard who's an absolute guard and speaks in EXTREMELY broken English," he switched the video off. "Those are the six main members of the "Freedom Fighters," Robotnik explained, "There are many other branches of this group and I'll fill you in on them later."

"So," Riku crossed his arms and spoke in a business tone, "What exactly is it you need me to do?"

"It's simple really," Robotnik grinned, "I need you to travel to the Great Forest, and find their base of operations, "Knothole Village." Once there you are to find and destroy the village, and bring me those meddlesome rodents for "interrogation." In exchange, if you tell Snively and I a little more about yourself, we may be able to find a way to transport you home." He held out his right hand in a handshake of agreement. "So, do we have a deal?"

Riku thought for a moment; he had only just met this Robotnik character, and didn't exactly know the full situation of what was going on in this planet. What's more was the dark aura around Robotnik; it seemed too familiar, as if trusting him could lead to another Ansem incident. But, since he was stranded in a world he knew nothing about, not knowing when or how he could go home, he didn't have many options available to him, nor did he know who exactly was good and evil; even if he had that feeling that Robotnik was definitely evil. "Alright, Dr Robotnik, we have a deal," he shook the doctor's hand in agreement…for now.

TO BE CONTINUED


	3. Infiltrating Knothole Village

(Next Chapter is on its way. So Riku, Sora's best friend/rival and Key bearer of the Twilight, is now in the world of SatAM. He's met with Robotnik and Snively, so far. But what about everyone's favorite speedy blue hedgehog, Sonic? Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about him. I don't own Sonic, nor do I own Kingdom Hearts.)

CHAPTER 3

After the meeting with Robotnik, Riku had been boarded on one of Robotnik's egg-pod ships; where a swatBOT escorted him outside of Robotropolis and into the outskirts of the Great Forest. The green ship descended slowly to the ground below, kicking up a cloud of dirt as it came to the end of its flight.

GREAT FOREST AHEAD, the swatBOT informed Riku in a mechanical voice, PLEASE PROCEED WITH CAUTION ON YOUR MISSION, it warned as Riku stepped towards the doors.

"I've got it handled," Riku waved the swatBOT dismissively; "I'll call you if I need help (which I won't)."

UNDERSTOOD, the swatBOT went to standby mode, until it was summoned.

The circular doors separated into equal fragments as they opened up, allowing Riku to jump out onto the ground. A vast beautiful green forest stood before him; a huge contrast to the mechanical city that was Robotropolis. "So, these "Freedom Fighters" inhabit the forest, yet the exact location of their base is unknown," Riku repeated the information he already knew as he walked into the forest, "So how the hell am I supposed to find them?"

Riku walked through the forest cautiously, looking all around for any signs of life. He walked for what seemed like almost an hour, finding no life forms except unless he counted the trees; now he was starting to get annoyed. "Urgh… If Robotnik actually lives on this planet, yet he doesn't know where to find this group…THEN HOW THE HELL DOES HE EXPECT ME TO FIND IT WHEN I KNOW NOHING ABOUT THIS WORLD!?" Suddenly, he felt the essence of a strong heart coming towards his direction at a furious pace. Not wanting to be discovered, he quickly ducked into a nearby bush, and peered out of the dense foliage. A speeding blue streak came Riku's way and halted right outside of an old looking tree with a gaping hole in the middle, where it was revealed to be a small blue hedgehog with white gloves and red sneakers; the EXACT same description that Riku had received, regarding "Sonic the Hedgehog." 'It's him,' Riku thought with excitement, 'it's actually him! Maybe he can show me where that Freedom Fighter base is now.'

"Nothin' like returnin' back to the ole' homestead after a hard day's work," Sonic mused with a smile, "Hope these are the parts Sal needs for that ole' gizmo she's been workin' on." He patted his backpack, before jumping into the Knothole village's secret entrance.

Riku popped out of the bushes with a grin. "Looks like this is my lucky day... He led me right to it!" He wandered over to the tree and peered into the hole; where he found a long wooden tube slide leading down. "So this is where he went…well I'd better get going." Riku climbed straight into the tree, feet first, and pushed himself down the slide. "WHOOOOOOOOOOOOAAA," Riku hollered as he slid down the log slide at a furious pace as if he was on a water slide, only without the water. POOMPH! Riku landed straight on a pile of soft straw, cushioning the impact of his fall. "Ugh, I can't believe they actually use this as a method to return home," Riku muttered as he stood up.

"Yes! Sonic, these are exactly what we need! Thank you, SO much!"

"Aw shucks, Sal. T'weren't nothin.' It's just what this hedgehog does best."

"Crap! Someone's coming!" Riku snuck back into the straw pile to hide. Peering out from underneath the straw, he watched as Sonic returned with that ground squirrel girl; the one Robotnik had called "Princess Sally."

"Really Sal, it was no trouble at all," Sonic boasted with a confident smirk, "Buttnik couldn't touch this faster than lightning hedgehog with a ten foot pole! Those parts were a cinch to get."

Riku raised an eyebrow at the hedgehog's cocky attitude. 'Is this guy for real?'

"Oh? So fast, that Robotnik couldn't even detect your huge ego?" Sally retorted teasingly.

"Sal, Sal, Sal," Sonic shook his head with a smile, "My ego's got nothing to do with it; just my sweet fleet feet."

'Now where have I heard this kind of talk before?' Riku asked himself rhetorically, as the playful banter between Sonic and Sally seemed oddly familiar to the kind that would go on between Sora and Kairi; only Sora wasn't as cocky and bigheaded as Sonic was. 'Sora never overly praised himself like this guy does. I wonder which is bigger; his speed range or his ego? Or maybe he's as full of himself as he is fast,' Riku chuckled mentally.

"Besides," Sonic went on, "there's more to this ole' hedgehog than speed and ego," he grinned.

"Like what?" Sally placed her hands on her hips in mock challenge.

"Like this," Sonic swept Sally off her feet and planted a big kiss on her lips; which she just seemed to melt into as she gave a soft moan.

Riku blushed at the tell-tale kiss before him. 'Whoa…but I've never seen Sora and Kairi do THAT…at least not in front of me anyway. BEHIND me, however, might be another story… Gah! I can think about that later! If they're that "involved," maybe I can make my escape…now!' The Key bearer quickly sneaked out of the hay and half snuck/half ran behind the trees, hoping that Sonic and Sally didn't spot him.

Sonic finally broke the kiss, after what seemed like ages, and grinned at Sally. "So, did I make my point?"

"Ok, you did," Sally giggled, as she stood back up, "Now we'd better go help Rotor out before it gets to dark.

Riku sighed with relief as he watched them head off, and took the time to get a better look at his surroundings. Much like the Great Forest, Knothole village was a huge contrast to the cold metallic feel of Robotropolis. This primitive yet clean and quiet village reminded Riku of Destiny Islands, only without the beach and ocean, along with a lot more trees (which weren't the tropical kind). "I wonder what Sora would think of this place," Riku wondered to himself, "and Kairi too." He looked around the village, at the wooden bridges across the river, the straw and wood huts, and even the water wheel which looked to be supplying them with electricity. "Huh…just like Gilligan's Island and Robinson Crusoe," Riku observed, before looking up into the sky, seeing the brilliant red sunset. "The sun's setting…and that means when night falls, I'll be able to move around here without the worry of being seen." He then took another look at the huts. "Although, it wouldn't hurt to check things out a little more…" Taking a quick look around, to make sure nobody could see him, Riku broke into a sprint and darted behind the nearest hut; he snuck over to the window carefully and peered inside.

Antoine Depardieu, self proclaimed royal guard of Princess Sally (and number one coward who was insanely jealous of Sonic), was doing random Kung-Fu poses (which he called "King-Fu" in his usual broken English) in the mirror and making cheesy martial art yells. "Hya! Wuya! And a Kya! Oh yes, my King-Fu skills shall be putting ze hurt on monsieur Robotnik! Zat fuel, Sonic, shall zoon be ze jealous fuel instead of moi, once moi is winning ze hands of ze Princess! Haha!" Antoine leaped into the air and did a flying kick; and accidentally crashed right into his own closet, sending clothes and hangers flying everywhere. "Ouchie…ze pain…eet iz hurting…"

Riku tried to keep himself from laughing out loud, managing to stifle it to a muffled snicker. 'Man, I've heard of broken English before, but that guy's dialect…even the French would be offended. And his "King-Fu" makes Bruce Lee turn over in his grave.' Shaking his head, Riku quickly ran behind the next hut, making sure that he was out of anyone's sight. He peered into the window of the hut, curious as to who inhabited this particular home.

Bunnie Rabbot, the muscle of the Freedom Fighters and the resident "Southern Belle," was brushing her fur gently as she admired herself in the mirror. "Gotta keep the ole' hair and ears lookin' pretty," Bunnie giggled as she put away her brush and winked at her reflection, before going over to a large basket full of fresh carrots. "Mah, Mah, Mah," she declared in her southern dialect, "don't these carrots look nice and fresh, todah?" She picked one up in her robotic arm and admired it. "These beauties'll be just fine for Bunnie's ole' carrot stew recipe."

Riku smiled a little, 'she's actually pretty cute, for a half mechanical rabbit… I wonder how she got those mechanical parts anyway.' Riku shifted a bit, accidentally knocking over two rakes nearby; causing the two gardening tools to fall on top of one another making a loud clanging sound.

Bunnie's ears perked up at the sound. "Wuh in tarnation was that?"

'Uh-oh, she's coming out! I'd better get out of here, quick!' Riku darted away from Bunnie's hut and hid behind a few crates, staying out of sight as Bunnie came around back and inspected the rakes.

"Now d'you suppose the little ole' wind came and knocked these down?" She asked herself as she picked them up. "Ah well, no harm done."

'Whew, that was close,' Riku sighed mentally, "maybe I'd better stay out of sight until nightfall.' But that suggestion was instantly dashed as Riku noticed a group of the animals he had just seen gathering around what looked like a strategy table underneath a large wooden canopy. 'A strategy meeting, perhaps?' Riku thought, 'I'd better get over there myself.' Riku followed the Freedom Fighters close behind, hiding and running behind bushes, crates, poles and other objects before he was right outside of the canopy; his back was pressed against the outside wall as he listened in.

"So who did you see Robotnik talking to?" Sally asked Sonic with an inquisitive look.

"I'm not sure, Sal," Sonic admitted, "But he was a human being, just like Buttnik and Snively. He had shoulder length silver hair despite the fact he was probably only one year older than me, and his clothes just seemed to have zippers everywhere."

"Was there anything else about him that you noticed?"

"Well…yeah; he was holdin' this freaky lookin' sword in his hand. Sal, that thing looked like it was made up of angel and demon wings; plus it was shaped just like a giant key. I wish I had gotten to see that guy in action though; it looked like he took down a whole squad of swatBOTs!"

"A whole squad? What happened next?"

"Last I saw, Robotnik was takin' him into his HQ," Sonic told Sally, "and here's a real kicker. He didn't know WHO Robotnik was what Robotropolis was, or anything about Planet Mobius!"

"Are you serious!?"

"Sal, that boy didn't look or sound like he's from this planet."

"Sacre bleu-cheese," Antoine gasped, "He iz ze alien?"

'Who the hell is he calling an alien!?' Riku thought, a bit offended at being called an alien.

"Ant, this guy wasn't green, nor did he have any antennae," Sonic chided Antoine.

"Humph! 'Ee does not need ze antennae or green skeen to be ze alien, you fuel!" Antoine challenged.

"Guys, don't start," Sally warned, trying to prevent a fight, "Sonic, please continue."

"Basically, Robotnik was acting all friendly towards the dude and trying to convince him that we're the bad guys here. I don't know about you guys, but I'm a little worried about runnin' into this new kid; I got some really creepy vibes commin' from him."

'Damn…so he saw me,' Riku thought, 'well it doesn't matter anyway, once night falls.'

Time seemed to pass quickly into the night time, and the Freedom Fighters had all returned to their respective huts for bed. Riku was left alone outside, now free to roam about without having to hide as much.

"Now, where do I begin…?" Riku thought aloud as he snuck around the village quietly. He peered into random huts, searching for the one that Princess Sally might sleep in.

"Mmm…just five more minutes Ma…"

Riku nearly jumped out of his clothes as he heard a faint voice behind; he turned around with his Keyblade drawn defensively. Right behind him, hanging from a tree by her tail in an opossum-like manner, there was a large green female dragon with two medium-sized green wings on her back; along with two smaller feathered wings on her ankles. Luckily for Riku, she appeared to be asleep. Riku waved a hand in front of the dragon's face to make sure she was sleeping soundly; since the beast remained motionless, Riku assumed he was safe. 'Phew, that was close… I'd hate to wake this girl up,' he thought to himself, more than a little intimidated by the dragon girl's size.

Choosing to sneak away as far from the dragon as possible, Riku resumed playing his game of peek-a-boo with the houses around him. "You'd think that a princess' home would at least stand out from all the rest," he grumbled, as his search dragged on to the next hut. "Where in the-aha!" Peering into the hut, Riku saw Sally's sleeping form in her bed. 'Jackpot!' Grasping the windowsill carefully, Riku quietly lifted himself up and put one leg through, until he was sitting on the windowsill; he then lifted his other leg and jumped down carefully onto the wooden floor beneath him.

If only Riku had had eyes in the back of his head, he would've seen the dragon girl behind him crack one eye open and watch him intently. 'Looks like we've got a prowler sneaking about,' she thought to herself, 'and he's headed for Sally's room! I gotta warn Sonic!' She flew up into the air and headed for Sonic's hut.

Riku stood over the bed and watched as Princess Sally slept peacefully. 'I don't know…was Robotnik REALLY telling the truth? Something tells me he was lying. His heart essence was too dark and evil, now that I think about it… Ugh, I don't need suggestions right now; I need answers. He raised a hand and began to reach for Sally.

"Get your hands offa her, bro!"

Riku only had time to pull his hand back as he heard someone shout out, followed by what seemed like a miniature gale force wind knock him off his feet and right out the door. "WHOA!!" Riku was sent rolling like a barrel across the grass, stopping 20 feet from Sally's hut. When he pulled himself back up, he saw the blue hedgehog, Sonic glaring at him challengingly.

"Hey, you're that dude I saw talking to Robotnik!" Sonic pointed a finger at the silver haired boy before him. "Just who the heck are you and where did ya come from!?"

Riku glared at Sonic as he stood upright. "My name's Riku," he said quietly, before his Keyblade materialized in his grip, "And where I come from is none of your business, Sonic Hedgehog!" He pointed Way to the Dawn aggressively at his foe.

TO BE CONTINUED


	4. Riku VS Sonic and Bunnie

(Looks like Riku got busted by Sonic and the gang. Now it looks like he'll have to fight his way out. But what about his confusion about who's good and who's evil here? Things don't look good, that's for sure. I don't own Sonic, SatAM, OR Kingdom Hearts.)

CHAPTER 4

"Hey, you're that dude I saw talking to Robotnik!" Sonic pointed a finger at the silver haired boy before him. "Just who the heck are you and where did ya come from!?"

Riku glared at Sonic as he stood upright. "My name's Riku," he said quietly, before his Keyblade materialized in his grip, "And where I come from is none of your business, Sonic Hedgehog!" He pointed Way to the Dawn aggressively at his foe.

'Whoa! There's that mondo freaky key-sword again,' Sonic thought. "So what's up with that key-sword thingie?" He demanded.

"For your information, this thing's called a Keyblade," Riku told his opponent, "And I'm going to use it on you! DARK FIRE!" Riku threw a ball of black flames straight at the hedgehog.

"Whoa!" Sonic bolted to the side, and the fireball missed completely.

Riku did a double take. "Wh-What the?!"

"Think a little old fireball's enough to touch this hedgehog?" Sonic smirked and eagled a finger at Riku.

"Obviously not," Riku said in a deadpan voice, before he ran at Sonic and leapt into the air; he swung his Keyblade down upon the blue hedgehog with force.

"Too slow," Sonic leapt away in a flash.

"Hold still, pincushion!" Riku yelled as he leapt at Sonic, swiping at the hedgehog with his Keyblade, only to miss every time due to Sonic's super agility.

Sonic kept jumping and dodging, doing acrobatics and gymnastics in mid air to show off. "Riku, Riku, Riku, aren't ya getting' tired yet?"

"Yeah, I'm tired," Riku shot back, "Tired of your cocky attitude!! Dark Aura!" Riku rose into the air, before pointing his Keyblade out and charging at Sonic like an angry bee.

Sonic yawned mockingly and speed stepped aside each time Riku passed by. "Tsk, tsk, tsk…" When he saw Riku finally land he sped over and kicked him right in the back.

"AGH!" Riku went flying into the bushes, sending leaves scattering about through the air, and landed flat on his back. "Ok, NOW I'm mad!" He picked himself up, only to see Sonic tapping his foot impatiently.

"Yo, Riku! You gonna land a blow on me or what? I'm waaaaiiitin'!" Sonic taunted.

Riku growled and his eyes burned with rage. "Keep it up, Sonic! You're starting to piss me off!"

"Ah, ah, ah, watch the language," Sonic teased, waving his finger at Riku.

"I'll watch nothing!" Riku jumped at Sonic; he gripped his Keyblade in both hands, pointing the blade down and stabbed at the hedgehog with force; he only hit the earth beneath him as Sonic once again dodged. 'I can't keep swinging blindly at him,' Riku thought, 'There's GOT to be a way I land a blow on him. Maybe If I can confuse or daze him some how…aha! I got it!'

"Well, as much I enjoy playin' around here,' Sonic said, 'I think it's time I sent ya packin' back to Robotropolis!' Leaping into the air and spinning like a buzz saw, Sonic launched another Sonic Spin at Riku.

Riku, however, had other plans. "DARK SHIELD!" Riku threw up a free hand, producing his energy shield of octagons.

Sonic was totally unprepared; he hit the shield head on and was sent flying backwards. "AAAAH!"

'Got him,' Riku thought before lifting into the air for another "Dark Aura" attack.

Sonic hit the ground smack on his read, his head pounding from the head on collision. "Ow…the heck did I just hit? A laser?"

"Sonic!" Sally's voice cried out, "Look out!"

"Whu-WAH!' Sonic was suddenly struck as Riku's Keyblade seemed to cleave right through him like a hot laser.

Riku seemed to cut right through Sonic to the bone, before bursting out from another angle and piercing through the hedgehog again, and again, and again, and again; Sonic never even touched the ground; Riku was striking him so randomly and quickly. Finally, Riku appeared right above Sonic, his Keyblade raised in a stabbing position like a murderer's knife before he brought it down upon the small blue hedgehog; even if the blade didn't strike Sonic, the miniature black fire storm still would and did.

"NWAAH!" Sonic cried out as he was sent spiraling up into the air, helpless.

"Sonic!!" Sally cried helplessly as she watched her love sail upwards into the air.

"It's time to finish this! DARK FIRE!" Riku charged up a single black fireball in his left hand and prepared to fire it at Sonic.

"Hold yer horses there, sugar!"

Riku turned around, only to be met with a steel-enforced punch to the chest that sent him flying back; Riku, however, was able to recover in the air and landed on his feet to face his new opponent. "Hey, you're that… You're that Rabbot girl!"

"BUNNIE Rabbot," Bunnie corrected, "MISS Rabbot to you. And ya better leave ole' sugar-hog alone, or else!"

Riku pointed his Keyblade at her angrily, "Or else what!? I'm not afraid of you, or your metal enhanced limbs! I bet you enforced them just so you could have the advantage over your foes, huh? Well it won't help against me!"

"Don't go thinkin' you know anythin' about muh legs and arm, ya here?" Bunnie was feeling rather sensitive at Riku's misconception.

"Whatever, I don't really care!" Riku lunged at Bunnie and started swiping at her with his weapon.

Bunnie tried to block Riku's blows, using her metal arm to shield her as Riku's Keyblade banged against it. 'Guh! That little ole' key thingie's pretty strong, its puttin' dents into muh arm here.'

Riku beat against Bunnie's metallic arm like an angry drummer; his ears were filled with the clanging sound of metal on metal. 'Come on! That arm's got to give some time!' He gave one more swing and grappled with Bunnie, Keyblade to metallic arm; it was quite a challenge, given Bunnie's strength, but Riku put in some extra hand power and gripped Way to the Dawn in both hands, trying to push down on Bunnie's arm. Grunting, he tried to force Bunnie's arm one way and break the grappling, so that he could get in a quick hit.

Bunnie wouldn't have it, however, as she forced Riku's Keyblade to go the other way. "Sorry, sugar, but you gotta get up pretty early in the mornin' to pull a move on Bunnie-gal with that with that overgrown key o' yours," she retorted with a confident smile.

"First of all, don't call me 'sugar.'" Riku shot back with a scowl, "and secondly it's a KeyBLADE!" He suddenly broke the grapple, causing Bunnie to slip and lose concentration; plenty of time for Riku to unleash a flurry of quick blows upon her non metallic torso.

Bunnie was caught unprepared as the weapon she was holding back suddenly removed itself and made her lose her footing; next minute, she was met with flurry of swipes from Riku's Keyblade against her chest and stomach. She was knocked backwards before Riku threw his Keyblade at her from a short distance like a boomerang; she was tagged instantly and fell to the ground tumbling.

Riku caught his Keyblade after his "boomerang tag" move and gazed at the felled half robot/half animal foe. "Is that "early" enough for you?" He challenged.

Bunnie huffed as she struggled to her feet. "Not early enough Sugar…cause I can still…do…this!" She threw out her metallic left arm, which extended out almost like a shot harpoon.

Riku didn't expect a move like this and was hit right in the torso and knocked flat on his back. "AGH! Jesus!"

"Didn't know ah could do that, did ya, sugar?" Bunnie smirked.

Riku scrambled to his feet, despite having the wind knocked out of him. "I…huff…guess not…" He gasped out. "And for the last time, don't call me 'sugar!'"

Sally, meanwhile, had Nicole (her handheld computer) out to check Sonic's diagnostics. "Nicole! Run diagnostic test on Sonic, quickly!"

RUNNING DIAGNOSTIC SALLY, Nicole beeped in a smooth quiet voice, SONIC IS HEAVILY INJURED, BUT HIS CONDITION IS NOT CONSIDERED CRITICAL.

Sally sighed with relief as she wiped a few tears from her eyes. "Thank Mobius, for that…"

"Hoo yeah!" Bunnie shouted from above as she extended both legs down at Riku like a ladder for a long range kick.

Riku leapt to the side as Bunnie's metallic legs slammed into the ground, kicking up dirt and earth into the air. Before Bunnie had a chance to return back to the ground, Riku struck back. "DARK FIRE!" He launched another black fireball directly at Bunnie's legs as soon a she came down.

"WHOA!" Bunnie cried out as her legs were engulfed in flames; thankfully she was spared from what had happened to Sonic. However, Bunnie found herself on the ground, her robot left badly damaged and ceasing to function. "Oh mah stars, that fireball made me an 'ole robo-plegic!"

Riku let out a sigh of exhaustion. "Whew, these Freedom Fighters are wearing me out… I wouldn't have fought back if they didn't attack me first," he turned to Sally.

Sally stood her ground and glared at Riku. "Why are you doing this anyway!? You don't look like one of Robotnik's robots, so whay are you following his orders?"

"What orders?" Riku asked, "I'm just bringing some eco-terrorists to justice! If I bring you guys in, Robotnik said he'd find a way to send me back home! I don't know what the situation is here, so I don't know who to believe. I don't have any allies or enemies here so…"

"Ugh… Don't ya get it Riku?" Sonic coughed, waking up and pushing himself upright with his hands, "We're actual Freedom Fighters, not eco-terrorists! Buttnik's lying to you!"

'Lying!? So that darkness I felt from him…' Riku started to have his doubts. "Wh-Why should I believe you!?" He said in an uncertain voice.

"You don't know anything about us," Sally shot back, "And you don't know Robotnik either! He's no ruler, he's a dictator! He took our home and planet from us and rules over with an iron fist!"

"He's captured almost all of our kind too," Sonic added, "Most of our buddies've been roboticized by Robotnik and made into his slaves!"

"…Roboticized?" Riku look confused at the word, "What the hell does that mean?" He didn't like where this was going.

"It means they're turned into mindless robots," Sally said in a sad voice, "that's what he does to us, as well as turning our planet into a lifeless cold robotic world." Sally started to tell their story to Riku; she told of Robotnik's betrayal of Mobotropolis, the exile of the king, the many roboticizations of hapless mobians, and the struggle of the Freedom Fighters against Robotnik's might.

As Riku took all of this in his confusion turned to shock, then to horror, and finally it became rage. "That's…horrible!" He gripped the handle of his Keyblade tightly. "I can't something like this has actually happened…that monster! I can't believe I actually trusted and confided in a…a…a…a tyrant!!" Now his rage was becoming guilt. "I can't believe I was helping the side of evil…not again… Urgh!! What have I done!?" He dropped to his knees and beat against the ground with both fists, feeling nothing but rage and shame; both were directed at his self. 'No! Can't believe I let myself get tricked again! First with Ansem, now with this Robotnik character… Oh god, what would Sora think if he saw this? He'd be ashamed of me; ashamed that I let my self get used by evil again that's what!' "What am I supposed to do now!?"

"Try cooling it, bub, instead of messing around with my friends!" A female voice roared out, above a loud stomp.

Before Riku could turn around, there was a sudden hard impact to the back of his head, before everything went black

TO BE CONTINUED


	5. The Cloaked Schemer Returns

(Well, sorry to say, I'm not getting back to Riku's fate right away. But don't worry; I'll get back to him soon. But right now, we have an unexpected guest coming to the world of SatAM. But WHO is he? Read on and find out! I don't own Sonic, SatAM, or Kingdom Hearts.)

CHAPTER 5

The World that Never Was; the birthplace of the Nobodies; It once had the potential to become a real living world; but alas it was not to be. This world had no heart, and neither did its inhabitants; the nobodies. What's more was that the Nobodies that still inhabited the area were those of a lesser breed; those that did not have human forms of any sort, who therefore did not have strong hearts. Those who had strong hearts once, had all but been erased from existence.

Organization XIII; a group of thirteen powerful Nobodies had once existed here, but no longer. They had sought to unlock Kingdom Hearts and take the hearts for their own. But they were stopped by Sora and Riku, the Keybearers. Now the Organization was just a memory. All that remained was an old graveyard of sorts inside the "Castle that Never Was." In this room, there laid the tombstones of the fallen Nobodies; each one with the symbol and title of a specific Organization member.

_AH, THE GRAVEYARD OF THE ONCE MIGHTY ORGANIZATION XIII,_ an airy voice echoed out, _BUT PERHAPS THEY STILL HAVE A USE. NOW WHICH ONE SHOULD I BRING BACK…? I SHOULD EXAMINE THESE TOMBSTONES CAREFULLY AND SEE WHICH ONE IS THE MOST SUITABLE TO TAKE ON RIKU. HMMMM… WHAT'S THIS TOMBSTONE BURRIED IN RUBBLE? I CAN'T SEE ITS SYMBOL._

The rubble among the tombstone began to glow briefly before some unknown force blew it all away, revealing the symbol of an open book.

_AH YES… OH YES! PERFECT… HE'LL DO NICELY. NOW, IT'S TIME TO AWAKEN HIM FROM HIS ONCE ETERNAL SLUMBER._

The book symbol suddenly flashed brightly; an apparition of it rose up off of the tombstone, surrounded by swirling black smoke, before vanishing into thin air.

Elsewhere, in another dimension, the mysterious symbol of the fallen Organization member reappeared within a room completely made of crystal. On top of a medium sized crystal chair, a strange being sat smirking at the symbol before him. He was a large imposing figure with grey skin; on top of his head there was a large yellow horn protruding, while a long white beard surrounded his lower jaw line; his stout body was dressed in a deep purple suit complete with dark flowing cape; one of his gloved hands was not a hand, but a crab claw. "Ahhhh… here we are. Now, I shall breathe life back into you once again." The figure waved a hand over the book symbol.

The book symbol suddenly flashed brightly before exploding into a flash of purple smoke. When the smoke finally cleared, there stood a young man; he was possibly in his early to mid twenties with short grey hair combed over, his bangs almost covering one of his eyes; his entire body was dressed in a long black hooded cloak, zipped up to his neck. He was down on one knee and both hands, and his eyes were closed softly. He took a deep breath as he slowly opened his eyes. "I…am alive?" He asked aloud to no one in particular. "But…how?"

"It is because of my magic, young one," the purple clad figure spoke quietly.

The cloaked young man suddenly caught a strange scent in the air and sniffed. "This scent," he told himself, "it is the scent of the one who revived me." He looked up slowly and gazed at the strange caped creature before him. "So it was you who restored me back to my physical form. Who are you?"

"I am sorcerer savant, Ixis Naugus," the creature spoke with a grin, "I must say, you certainly are a sharp one, Zexion."

Zexion was taken aback; he had not yet introduced himself, yet this strange being knew who he was. "How did you know my name?" He asked with suspicion.

"I can see and view different dimensions here from the void," Naugus explained, "and I have even viewed your "World that Never Was," Cloaked Schemer. The reason I have brought you back is concerning one of the "Key bearers" as you call them. But ah, it is not Sora I am speaking about; it is the other one; the one who walks in the twilight."

Zexion narrowed his eyes and scowled angrily, knowing exactly who Naugus was talking about. "Riku…"

"I see you remember him," Naugus said with an evil grin.

"Remember him?" Zexion asked rhetorically, "how could I NOT remember him? I'll never forget my defeat at his hands, or how he broke through my illusion."

"I see… Then you're not going to like this," Naugus said gravely, and he told Zexion the details of what had happened after his death; it regarded Sora and Riku's defeat of every Organization member, their thwarting of Xemnas' plan, and ultimately their triumph over the superior.

Needless to say, Zexion was furious. "Th-The Superior!? Dead!?" He clenched his fists angrily. "They will pay dearly for this…"

"While Sora is out of your reach at the moment," Naugus went on, "Riku is not. I have brought him to this world as well, and set him loose. He was foolish enough to believe Robotnik's lies and went for Knothole Village. Unfortunately, for him, the infiltration did not go quite as planned…so now he's being held for questioning. But now, to get down to business; you want revenge on Riku, yes?"

"More than anything," Zexion said, "NOBODY escapes from my illusions and lives to tell about it, plus he will suffer dearly for his hand in slaying the superior." He opened his hand up, and in a swirl of book pages his Organization weapon of choice appeared; his lexicon. "I will see to his death personally."

"All in good time," Naugus said, trying to calm Zexion down, "but may I make a suggestion?"

"…you may," Zexion said, waiting to hear.

"Robotnik, the man I mentioned earlier, I suggest you form an alliance with him," Naugus explained, "He already rules over this planet with an iron hand and has an abundance of technology and weaponry at his disposal; I believe what he has will be beneficiary to you. He has already turned almost all of this planet's inhabitants into robots."

"What about hearts?" Zexion asked. "This planet you speak of; if the ruler is turning every living creature into a mindless and heartless robot, it doesn't sound of much use to me if there are no hearts to collect."

"Ah, ah, don't be so hasty my friend," Naugus chided, "The robots may be mindless, but they're not completely heartless. I haven't forgotten about your Organization's search for hearts, after all. Aside from the roboticized inhabitants still have their hearts deep inside, the process IS reversible and they can be reverted back to flesh and blood. In addition there are still plenty of un-roboticized people on this planet. The "Freedom Fighters" especially have very strong and powerful hearts, as they fight for the liberation of their world. So there is actually quite an abundance of strong hearts in the world that is Mobius."

Now Zexion's attention was grabbed. "Strong hearts you say?" His eyebrow was raised.

Naugus went on to tell about Mobius' history, starting with the fall of Mobotropolis, Robotnik's take over, the formation of the Freedom Fighter branches, and especially the one group that included Sonic the Hedgehog and Princess Sally.

As Naugus told the story, Zexion absorbed every detail, and a small smile started to curl his lips as he heard about Robotnik and the Freedom Fighters. 'So that's it… Hmm… The people of Mobius do in fact sound like they have such strong and beautiful hearts, just ripe for the taking. These "Freedom Fighters" sound especially interesting, what with what they have gone through and what their goals are. I wonder if they might have "another use" besides their hearts…I shall soon see for myself.' Zexion looked back at Naugus. "Alright then, Mr. Naugus," he said calmly, "You have convinced me. I shall go to this world of Mobius and collect its hearts for myself."

"Good choice, Cloaked Schemer," Naugus grinned, "do you need any physical descriptions of the people I just mentioned?"

"No," Zexion said simply, "I will know them when I catch their scent. It is how I identify people." He disappeared in a swirl of book pages.

Meanwhile, in Robotropolis, Snively was doing a security check of the city, when Robotnik stepped in.

"Snively! Has there been any sign of Riku or those fetid Freedom Fighters?"

"Negative, sir," Snively told him, "for all we know, Riku might have decimated the Freedom Fighters and taken of on his own."

"Well, find him! I cannot allow anyone else, especially the Freedom Fighters, to get a hold of that boy's power," Robotnik informed his lackey.

"Yes, sir, I shall send a team of SwatBOTS to search for him around the Great Forest," Snively said as he stepped up to the microphone. "Attention SwatBOT platoon # 4, you are under strict orders to go to the Great Forest and search for any signs of those Freedom Fighters, or Riku, go!"

SwatBOT platoon #4 mounted their vehicles and charged up their weapons, before they started to march/fly out of their city and headed for the direction of the Great Forest.

VWOOP! VWOOP! VWOOP! Warning sirens suddenly went off inside of Robotnik's citadel, indicating the arrival of an intruder.

"Intruder alert, Dr. Robotnik, sir!" Snively blurted out in surprise. "Someone has breached our security and is heading right for our direction!"

"What!? If it's not the hedgehog; then who, in blazes, could have done this?" Robotnik demanded.

"That would be me," a calm sneaky voice echoed out, before a portal of darkness opened up in the floor; a cloaked young man with bluish grey hair carrying a lexicon appeared before Robotnik and Snively.

"What the-who are you!?" Robotnik demanded.

"My name is Zexion," the man spoke, "I am known as the Cloaked Schemer, and formerly #6 of the now defunct Organization XIII. I believe you know of a boy, by the name of Riku?"

"Riku!?" Robotnik was taken aback, before he started to smile. "Ah, so you are of the same world as he is, am I right?" 'If this is so, then it could very well be double the power at our disposal if things go right.'

"…More or less," Zexion said, discreetly sniffing the air; he caught a strong scent that seemed to emit a powerful darkness. 'This scent…it smells exactly like Xemnas's scent; maybe even stronger. This man…he is Robotnik, whom Naugus spoke of, I'm sure if it. His heart smells of a strong darkness; a darkness that wishes to dominate and corrupt. I must take this man's heart into consideration, for later.' "I have come to offer you my services," Zexion told Robotnik, putting his plan into motion. "I can help bring Riku to you and unlock his power for your own, as well as bring in those whom you call "Freedom Fighters."

"Can you now?" Robotnik asked intrigued by the newcomer, "What exactly can you do? Do you have a power, similar to that of Riku?"

"Oh, my power is far different from Riku," Zexion smirked, "Let me show you!" He opened up his Lexicon, and the whole room was flooded with light.

Robotnik grunted and shielded his eyes from the light, as it filled the room, nearly blinding him. When the light faded, and Robotnik opened his eyes, he was met with a horrible sight; he was no longer in his citadel but on top of the roof of what was left of the citadel. All around him, his beautiful Robotropolis was in complete ruin; machinery was in ravaged, SwatBOTs lay in pieces, and many buildings were in flames. "Wh-What's this!? My city! Robotropolis! It's…destroyed!?"

"That's right Robuttnik! We trashed your city, just like you did with ours!"

Robotnik turned around to find Sonic the Hedgehog standing defiantly in front of him, along with the rest of the Freedom Fighters. "Sonic! H-How did you!?"

"It ends here Robotnik!" Princess Sally stood by Sonic, a tear in her eye. "All the pain and suffering you caused us…what goes around comes around! Now it's your turn!"

Robotnik looked all around for any means of escape, but found nothing. "No…this cannot be!" His rage turned to fear. "How could I lose!? This isn't possible!!!" He noticed Sonic and his friends advancing upon him, and he started to back away. "No…stay back! Stay away! Please! I beg of you! This isn't real! THIS ISN'T REAL!!!"

_OF COURSE IT ISN'T,_ a voice echoed out, and everything begin to distort and waver before Robotnik; everything fragmented and shattered into pieces, revealing the inside of Robotnik's citadel once more, with a confused Snively and a smirking Zexion.

"What WAS that!?" Robotnik asked, still in disbelief of what he had just witnessed.

"That, my dear doctor, was a sample of my power," Zexion spoke, "Each member of my former group had a certain element of power to wield; mine was the element of illusion. I can make people see what I want them to see, and my illusions are far from mere parlor tricks; for I can make my illusions as real as to the point where the victim cannot tell fantasy from reality." He slammed his lexicon shut.

"O-Of course! I-I knew that all the time," Robotnik lied, 'I can't let him know he fooled me so brilliantly…'

Snively, however, knew for a fact that Robotnik had experienced pure terror from the illusion. 'So, there's now someone who can terrify Julian just as much as Naugus could, eh?' He thought with amusement. 'This should be fun to watch. Ha-ha-ha-ha…'

Robotnik quickly recomposed himself, successfully hiding any indication that Zexion had gotten to him. "N-Now tell me, Zexion," he began, "how exactly do you intend to help capture the Freedom Fighters?"

"I was hoping you would ask," Zexion said, placing both hands on his lexicon, "You know how some reading fanatics like to say they get "absorbed" in their stories?" He suddenly turned to Snively and opened up his book, wide.

"AH! What's going on!?" Snively cried out in fear and shut his eyes as a sudden ray of light enveloped him. When he opened his eyes, he found himself floating helplessly in a stormy looking dimension; suspended in mid-air, and surrounded by black clouds and many books with odd symbols. "Where am I? What happened!? Dr Robotnik! Help me!" He shouted out in fear.

Back in Robotnik's citadel, where Snively once stood, there was nothing but a large floating book with Snively's frightened looking form in its pages.

Robotnik was now beside himself with pure elation and premature triumph. "Excellent…" He turned to Zexion. "Zexion, my boy, I think this alliance shall work out perfectly."

"Good choice, Dr Robotnik," Zexion smiled. 'The fat fish has taken the bait…but no harm in feeding him a few more worms. ARISE, HEARTLESS!'

Next door to the control room, there sat the Roboticization Room which housed Robotnik's fearsome Roboticizer; a device that could turn any living, thinking, breathing creature into a mindless robot. Many a Mobian and Freedom Fighter had suffered this fate and was doomed to a possible eternity as a robot. No roboticization was taking place this day an all seemed motionless and still; but not for long. The dense shadows within began to stir and move, and small shapes began to form and scurry across the floor. Those shapes began to take form and lifted themselves up off of the ground to show their form; they seemed insect-like, with beady yellow eyes and antennae sticking out; their small bodies sported springy frog like legs at the back while from the front they had small branch-like claws. There was only one type of creature that could have this kind of form; a Heartless; in its most common form; the Shadow. A small group of about one dozen Heartless rose up from the shadows and began to creep about the room, searching for the essence of any hearts nearby.

Zexion, already knowing about the Heartless in the roboticization room (seeing as how he was the one that summoned them there), snapped his fingers; releasing Snively from the book prison.

In a poof of smoke, Snively was back in the real world, visibly shaken and frightened. "Oh sweet, solid ground; how I've missed you!" He bent down and started kissing the metallic floor beneath him.

"Oh doctor?" Zexion called Robotnik's attention, "I do believe you have some intruders in the Roboticization Room," he pointed to the surveillance video of the said room.

"He's right sir!" Snively said as he zoomed in for a closer look. "We have a breach in the Roboticiztion Room by some unknown shadowy beings."

"Shadowy beings!?" Robotnik shoved Snively out of the way to see for himself. "What in the name of Mobius ARE those things?"

"Heartless."

"I beg your pardon?" Robotnik turned to Zexion.

"They are called Heartless, Doctor," Zexion repeated, "a race of creatures born from the darkness of peoples' hearts; they exist only to consume the hearts of others, and of the worlds they live in. There have been many worlds that were consumed by the Heartless, the people often becoming Heartless themselves; doomed to seek and consume more hearts. What you see before you is the "Shadow," the Heartless in its most basic and common form; however, the Heartless come in a variety of different shapes, forms and powers; each more fearsome than the last. The Heartless normally act on their own, but they can and do follow anyone with a greater will than theirs."

"Really? Anyone with a greater will than theirs, eh?" The greedy smile on Robotnik's face grew wider. "Then I wonder if I can bend their will in my own personal way… Snively! Activate the Roboticizer at once! I want those "Heartless" under MY command."

"Y-Yes sir!" Snively quickly activated the roboticization process.

Inside the Roboticization room, the glass container of the Roboticizer quickly slid down, trapping the Heartless; who started clawing at the glass obstacle in their way, totally unaware of what was about to happen to them. Electricity sparked and sizzled from within the tall glass tube as each Heartless started to glow eerily; each Heartless' appendages started to take on metallic looks. But suddenly, as each Heartless appeared to be roboticized halfway, something started to go horribly awry. The Roboticizer began to spark and fizzle all over, and the Heartless themselves began to morph and distort; seeming to change from their original form to a roboticized form back and forth.

VWERP! VWERP! VWERP!

The warning siren blared erratically as red light flashed inside of the rooms.

WARNING! WARNING! The computer bellowed out. ROBOTICIZER MALFUNCTION! SUBJECT BEHAVIOR AND STRUCTURE ABNORMAL!

"W-What is this!?" Robonik cried out in shock. "Snively! Status Report!"

"Something's gone terribly wrong with the roboticization!" Snively reported in panic. "The Roboticizer's reacting abnormally to the energy readings given off by the Heartless! I've never seen anything like it!"

Zexion, meanwhile, just stood there with his arms folded; a sinister smile across his face. 'Of course not, you needle nosed imbecile,' he though with amusement, 'The Heartless are unlike ANYTHING you have ever seen. Your idiot of a master was a fool to try and control them in such a manner; now he will see what a horrible mistake he has made.'

Suddenly, the Roboticizer's glass tube began to crack all over as smoke poured out, circuits fried and sparks flew; one of the Roboticizer's cables burst apart, causing a small fire, before another cable burst and the metal casing around the bottom of the Roboticizer blew apart; exposed, burning circuitry was revealed beneath.

"S-Sir! This is VERY bad, indeed!" Snively said; panic evident in his voice. "It's the Roboticizer! IT'S GOING TO EXPLODE!!!"

As if on cue, the Roboticizer did, indeed, explode.

WAKATHOOOOOOOOM!!

TO BE CONTINUED


	6. A Scar on Knothole

(Well, now we know who brought Riku to Sonic's world; and now it looks as though Zexion has decided to take a role in this little story. As for what happened in the Roboticization Room; that'll teach Robotnik to try and make a robot out of something as unpredictable and powerful as a Heartless, eh? I don't own Kingdom Hearts, or Sonic and SatAM, but you know that already.)

CHAPTER 6

"Ugh, my head…" Riku groaned as he slowly opened his eyes and his hazy vision began to slowly clear. "What the hell happened? Last thing I remember was barging into Princess Sally's hut, then getting into a fight with that Sonic the Hedgehog, then that Bunnie Rabbot girl attacked me next and…" He immediately sat up. "And then I found out I'd been duped by Doctor Robotnik!" He growled and hung his head. "I'm always getting duped; first by Ansem, and now this Robotnik guy. I made friends and enemies with the wrong people on both sides; way to make a good impression Riku," he scolded himself. Putting his self disgust aside for the moment, he took a look at his surroundings, finding himself in what he assumed was one of the huts in Knothole Village; but instead of wood and straw, everything seemed reinforced with concrete. The entire hut appeared to be living quarters and a workshop all in one; Riku saw a computer, a workbench and many different tools lying about; he also found himself on top of a metallic surgeon's table. He jumped off almost immediately, feeling too much like he was in Dr Frankenstein's lab. 'There's no way I'm going to be anyone's experiment,' he thought to himself, 'I think I'd better get out of here and rethink my position.'

Riku hopped down from the table and made his way to the door; had he bothered to check one of the windows, he would've noticed Antoine Depardieu coming his way. He reached for the doorknob, turned it, and opened the door.

Antoine was heading straight for Rotor's workshop; totally unaware that the "alien" he had heard about was being kept in there. "I wondair if Monsieur Rotor eez at home. I need to zee him right away." He reached for the doorknob only to watch it turn on its own, and the door open.

Riku and Antoine stared at each other for what seemed like a few minutes; eventually, each of them realized WHO they were staring at…and screamed bloody murder.

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!" Antoine shrieked in fear, "It eez ze alien!!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUGH!!" Riku yelled at the top of his lungs, before knocking Antoine over and making a run for it. "I'm outta here!" He headed straight for where he had first come through, not even sure if he was even heading for the exit or just going back to the entrance. Before he could move any further, a blue blur streaked right in front of him.

"Hold it right there, slow mo," Sonic shouted cockily.

"Agh! Not you again!" Riku cried out, skidding to a halt.

"Don't forget about me, sugah!" Bunnie Rabbot popped up behind Riku in a battle stance.

'…Why me?' Riku thought with anxiety; his Keyblade appeared in his right hand once more out of thin air. "If you furries must know, I was just leaving!"

"Uh, the blue hedgehog just said hold it, buster!" The green dragon girl, from before, suddenly floated down in front of Riku.

"You…you're that Dragon Girl, I saw last night!" Riku pointed at her.

"The name's Dulcy," the dragon told him, "and I'm the one that knocked you out."

"What!? That was you!?" Riku held up Way to the Dawn threateningly. "You want to pick a fight with me, is that it!?"

"Who said anything about picking a fight with you?" Dulcy looked surprised. "I was just trying to bring you under control after your little break down last night."

Riku blushed at the remembrance of breaking down in front of complete strangers like that. "Well excuse me. I've had bad experiences with trusting the wrong kind of people," he said, remembering the time he ended up fighting on the side of the Heartless, along with Maleficent and Ansem, "so how do you THINK I'd feel when I realized I let myself get duped again? Especially when I'm in a world that I know ZERO information about? No friends; no enemies; what else was I supposed to do?"

"Huh…he's got a point there," Sonic reasoned, "If he didn't even know who Robotnik was, then…"

"Then it looks like Riku was an easy target for Robotnik to manipulate," Sally spoke up, appearing from behind Sonic.

"Hey, I'm right here you know," Riku scowled, "no need to remind me how I let myself be used."

"Sorry," Sally looked sympathetic, "I didn't mean to…"

"No, no, no, princess," Riku waved his hand, "its ok. Since you guys told me your story; the REAL story; then I think I should tell you mine." Riku cleared his throat, sat down, and began to tell his story; he started off with how he, Sora and Kairi would often spend their days on Destiny Islands, before getting to the Heartless invasion and how he allowed himself to succumb to the darkness. He went on about how he slowly let himself believe Maleficent's lies, and fighting against his own friend under the influence of the Heartless; finally succumbing to the will of Ansem and almost killing those he loved, before Sora managed to stop him and allowed Riku to hold Ansem back. Then there came the deciding battle, when Riku was finally free from Ansem's influence and helped to lock up Kingdom Hearts, even though he was stuck on the side of Darkness. But Riku didn't stop there; he then told the Freedom Fighters about his own brush with Organization XIII; particularly with numbers Four, Five, and Six; each of whom tried to bring out Riku's inner darkness and reawaken Ansem inside of him, until Riku finally confronted the remainder of the Heartless leader in Castle Oblivion. Finally, Riku told his listeners about his 2nd brush with the Organization, his meeting with the REAL Ansem, and his reunion with Sora; how he had used the form of Xehanort's Heartless/the false Ansem to work through the shadows, right up until Sora had reached the World that Never Was, where they were finally reunited and Riku could shed back to his true face. It was all downhill from there as the two Keybearers worked together to finish of Xemnas; the leader of the Organization and Xehanort's other half; before finally being able to return home. "And that," Riku finished, "is my story."

"Whoa, man," Sonic said, impression embedded in his voice, "Sounds like you've been through some mondo adventures there; good and bad; you actually even went on the bad guy's side and came back."

"I almost didn't go back, Sonic," Riku said, "thankfully I had friends; more importantly one very special friend who would stop at nothing to pull me out of the darkness and get me back home."

"Your friend, Sora," Sally interrupted briefly with a smile, "He really sounds like something special."

"He is…" Riku smiled back, "Both him and Kairi; I'm really lucky to have them as friends."

"Yeah, that's the way to think Riku," Sonic said slapping his back, "sometimes friends are all you got; and all ya need."

"Well, if you were in Sora's shoes or mine," Riku informed the blue hedgehog, "you'd need all the friends you could get when battling the Heartless or the Nobodies. I tell you; they're both stronger than any swatBOT or robot you'll ever meet. The Heartless act completely by instinct and can show up anywhere where there are plenty of strong hearts; yet they will follow one who possesses a greater darkness and will then they do. Quite a few worlds fell to the Heartless' power; not even standing a snowball's chance against their wrath until Sora came along. The Nobodies, on the other hand, can think for themselves, and plan their attacks. They can even use the Heartless to their bidding. Organization XIII, whom I mentioned earlier, happened to be a very powerful group of Nobodies, each with their own element and weapon. They sought to take Kingdom Hearts for their own; but all they wanted was to have their hearts back; they had a good intention, yet they were going about it in a dangerous and life threatening way. That's the thing about Nobodies and Heartless; they have no morality or conscience as to what they're doing."

"They sound just like Robotnik's forces…" Sally said in almost a hushed whisper.

"Oh they're much worse," Riku told the princess, "the Heartless and Nobodies have the power to invade other worlds, and corrupt them. The Heartless especially are dangerous, snatching the very hearts of each world; as I said before. All that's left are tiny barren fragments of land, left to float around in the abysmal darkness. As for the inhabitants; their hearts forever become Heartless, while their body and soul are doomed to become Nobodies, shunned by both light and darkness."

Sonic shuddered at the thought of such a fate. "Man; havin' your heart become part pf some evil force, while your body becomes some twisted ghost turned away by both sides has got to be the most mondo, mega-bummerific life ever."

"I don't even want to think of such a life," Sally shivered, "having to exist between light and darkness, not being able to feel emotion or feeling," she hugged herself, "that's…so terrible."

"Just ask Sora," Riku said grimly, "He experienced it first hand… Frankly, it was a miracle he was able to come back from the darkness and become whole again. It was thanks to Kairi; the light from her heart reached out to Sora when he was briefly a Heartless, and it pulled him out of the abyss and restored him back to the world of light. He was one of the lucky ones."

"It sure sounds like it," Bunnie agreed, "Sounds like both Sora and ya'll have gone through hell and back together and on yer own."

"We sure have," Riku admitted, "I tell you, we've fought against the most unbelievable enemies you could think of." He started to stand up. "Anyway, sorry about ambushing you guys like that. I WAS however having my doubts about Robotnik; his scent just seems to reek of darkness and destructive power."

"His…scent?" Sally looked confused.

"Yes, his scent," Riku confirmed, "After my brief exposure to the Heartless, I was able to gain one of their powers; the ability to detect the "scents" of hearts; that's how they're able to detect the hearts of living beings. These scents also tell me if a person's heart is good or evil; I'll show you." He looked at the Freedom Fighters and took a deep breath through his nose; he then started to smile at everyone. "It looks like you've all got good hearts, strong with light and purity," he turned to Sonic and Sally, "Especially the two of you; your hearts are definitely pure and benevolent."

"Aw shucks," Sonic said humbly, rubbing the back of his head.

Sally blushed prettily and giggled a bit at Riku's comment. "Charmer."

Riku sighed to himself as he looked around. "Well, I'd better get out of here, before Robotnik gets wise," he announced, "Don't want to attract any unwanted attention to your village or have SwatBOTS patrolling around the forest." He finally spotted the familiar pile of straw near the log slide and started to make his way over; or he would have if a gentle yet metallic hand hadn't had stopped him. He turned around, to see Bunnie holding onto his wrist.

"Nuh-uh, sugah," Bunnie shook her head, "There's no sense in lettin' you go back and suffer abuse from ole blubber bolts."

"That's Snively's job anyway," Sonic chuckled.

"But-" Riku tried to argue.

"No butts, Riku," Sally shook a finger at him, "your place isn't in Robotropolis. It should be here with us, until we can find a way to send you back home. You might even be able to help up in the fight against Robotnik."

Riku looked around at the warm smiling faces around him, noting how his current surroundings were a lot more comforting and welcoming than Robotropolis. If he was stuck in a world he knew nothing about, he might as well be spending his time with the right kind of people in the right kind of place. "Alright then; I guess I'll stay here."

"Mon Dieu… Ze alien eez going to stay weet us?" Antoine said fearfully.

"I'm no alien," Riku told him in an amused tone, "aliens would have green skin, big melon head, and LONG fingers. Since I have none of those, guess what? I'm not an alien; so there's no need to "King-Fu" me." He said, wiggling his index and middle fingers as he said "King-Fu."

"Do not insult ze King-Fu!" Antoine shouted and did a few false karate moves with exaggerated grunts and cries. "HIYAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!!" Antoine ended up doing a badly done flying kick, and landing on the ground; doing a REALLY painful version of the splits on the ground. "Ouchie… I have been doing ze splitting…" Antoine whimpered.

Both Riku and Sonic burst out laughing at Antoine's little exercise mishap.

"Looks like YOU insulted "King-Fu" for me," Riku laughed.

"Just be thankful you weren't wearin' pants, Ant; or you would've split them as well as your hamstrings," Sonic giggled.

Sally tried not to giggle, but found it difficult, given Antoine's uncomfortable looking position and face that just screamed "Sacre-bleu cheese!!!"

"As you'd most likely say," Sonic said to Antoine, "You 'ave become ze SPLIT-pea soup!'" He mocked Antoine's accent.

Sally burst out laughing at Sonic's remark. "Hahahaha! Oh Sonic, you're horrible," she laughed, "Funny, but horrible."

Antoine sighed angrily as Bunnie helped him up. "I zo hate being ze stock of laughing," he grumbled, "Everyone makes ze mockery of me!"

"It looks like you do a good job of making a mockery of yourself Antoine," Riku corrected with a chuckle. Suddenly, he mentally froze; as the foul scent of an evil essence offended his nose. 'Something's here…or someone. This scent…it's not of a Heartless. It has no heart…so it must be a Nobody!' Riku looked around, trying to remain inconspicuous, trying to find out where the supposed Nobody was. Suddenly the scent seemed to strengthen in the direction of the river; more directly, right on the bridge. At first there seemed to be no one there, but Riku's senses told him otherwise; he saw what looked like movement through the air, before a large feline bi-pedal outline suddenly materialized.

"Yo! Riku," Sonic waved a hand in front of Riku's face, "What's up? You look like you've just seen a ghost."

"What I just saw…is no ghost!" Riku shouted and took off for the bridge. "On the bridge; there's something there!"

Before Riku could react, however, the feline shadow suddenly pounced upon him, pinning the twilight Key bearer to the ground, and growling ominously at him. "You…" The shape suddenly spoke in a low oily voice, "You smell of the Keyblade…"

"No duh," Riku spat at the creature, struggling, "Sora isn't the only one who knows how to wield a Keyblade!"

"Sora," the voice purred evilly, "I was…defeated by a Sora once; or rather, my Heartless was defeated by him. Yes…and he had help from that foolish brat of a king, Simba…"

'Simba?' Riku thought, the name sounded familiar, 'Wasn't he that lion king, Sora told me about? Yeah, Sora had to help him reclaim his kingdom from someone… What was his name…?' Riku thought back to when Sora told him all about his adventures in the newer worlds, during their fight against Organization XIII. 'That other lion…he became a Heartless, thanks to Pete. Was he related to Simba? His father? His cousin? His uncle…yah, he was Simba's uncle. Scream…Scratch…Scar…Scar! That was his name!' "You…you're Scar! Simba's uncle! Sora told me about you!"

"Scar?" The shadow laughed. "Not quite…but close enough. I'm his Nobody!" Before Riku's eyes, an elderly looking Lion Nobody began to take the place of the faceless shape. Indeed, the Nobody resembled Scar, but with a few differences; Scar's usually raven black mane was tinted an aging grey; his now pale yellow eyes were devoid of their usual green pupils, giving him an almost soulless look; on both his sides and his legs, Scar's Nobody had the Nobody symbol tattooed on. "The scent of hearts drew me here," Scar's Nobody explained, "I wonder what would happen if I took the heart of a Key Bearer," he grinned maliciously and raised a clawed paw.

WHAM!

Dulcy had suddenly flown forward and collided with Scar's Nobody, sending both the dragon and lion nobody colliding into the river with a loud splash.

"Dulcy!" Riku cried out as he sat up, wondering if the dragon girl was ok. 'She doesn't know what kind of power a Nobody's capable of…even I don't know what THAT one was capable of! Damnit, if only Sora was here…well he's not, so it's my job now,' he thought as Sonic and Sally helped him to his feet. "Listen guys, we've got to-"

SPLASH!

Dulcy flew out of the river, slopping water onto the bank and bridge; her wings flapping about and scattering droplets all around. "Crud, I lost him," she griped as she landed.

"Lost him?" Sonic repeated. "Ya make it sound like he just vanished into thin air."

"Well," Dulcy looked sheepish, "He kinda did."

"WHAT!?" Sonic and Sally exclaimed in unison.

"When you live in my universe," Riku informed, "you get used to your enemies appearing and disappearing out of nowhere." 'Just great,' he thought bitterly, 'Not only Robotnik, but we've got a Nobody running about. What's next? Heartless? Ugh, or maybe Organization XIII will make a comeback…maybe not.' If only Riku knew how right his assumptions were.

Ixis Naugus watched Riku's interaction with the Freedom Fighters from within Sanctuary; what he called his particular area of the Void. "Excellent," he hissed, "Riku and the Freedom Fighters are now working together as one. Poor Robotnik, on the other hand, is totally unaware of Zexion's true intentions." Naugus opened up his hand, revealing two glowing energy symbols similar to that of Zexion's; one was of an oddly shaped shield with spiked points sticking out from the wider part; the other was of a large tomahawk with an almost telephone-like shaped blade. "Of course, who's to say Zexion should work alone? I bet he would be overjoyed (if he had emotions that is) to be reunited with his two comrades," the sorcerer cackled, "I wonder how the Twilight Key Bearer and Quickster shall rise to this challenge."

TO BE CONTINUED


	7. Robotnik, the Heartless Dictator

(Well, looks like Riku's joined up with the Freedom Fighters, thankfully; better than being with Robotnik. Speaking of Robotnik, I believe it's time to check back with him…and Zexion. Let's see the aftermath after the destruction of the Roboticizer. Sonic and Tails are owned by SEGA, while the rest of the SatAM crew are owned by DIC. Riku and Zexion are owned by Square Enix, while Scar is own by Walt Disney.)

CHAPTER 7

"S-Sir! This is VERY bad, indeed!" Snively said; panic evident in his voice. "It's the Roboticizer! IT'S GOING TO EXPLODE!!!" Snively broke into a sprint, concerned with only saving his own skin.

As if on cue, the Roboticizer did, indeed, explode.

WAKATHOOOOOOOOM!!

The Roboticization Room was engulfed in a cloud of flames as the Roboticizer burst apart. The surveillance camera within the Roboticization room suddenly shorted out, leaving nothing but static on the screen; but the sounds of flames igniting and sparks crackling could still be heard through the sound amplifiers.

"How can this be!?" Robotnik spluttered, "The Roboticizer isn't supposed to break down like this; not so easily!"

'Maybe not," Zexion thought, 'but you obviously know so little of the Heartless, Doctor.'

Snively hit the keypad before him and zipped out of the doorway as soon as it opened; panicked. Would the explosion take out JUST the Roboticizer? Or would it take out much more? Either way, he did not want to stick around and find out. But fate had other plans.

"ROAR!" A huge feline shape dressed in a similar cloak to Zexion's suddenly lunged out of the darkness and pinned Snively to the ground. "Fool, you are not going anywhere. The fun has just started, and it would be rude to back out now. Or perhaps I should rip out that heart of yours and devour it? Ha-ha-ha-ha…"

"Wh-Wh-Who are you!?" Snively shrieked in fear.

"Let's just say," the voice purred, "I am of the same blood as Zexion now."

Snively overheard explosions going off in the Roboticization room, still, and worried if the flames were going to spread.

"No! My precious Roboticizer!" Robotnik rushed for the door and punched the keypad to open it, revealing a sea of flames and sparks before him. "What…What happened in here!?" Robotnik demanded furiously.

BOOM!

Another explosion erupted and the force knocked Robotnik backwards; slamming him against the wall and smashing his roboticized arm to pieces. "Ghhg…" He growled as he slowly slipped into unconsciousness.

Zexion, however, acted like nothing was happening, calmly looking at his lexicon.

_OH ZEXION…_ Naugus' voice echoed out in Zexion's brain.

'Naugus?' Zexion asked rhetorically. 'What is it?'

_OH NOTHING, REALLY. BUT I FIGURED THAT YOUR GOAL COULD BE ACHIEVED MUCH FASTER IF YOU HAD HELP FROM SOME OLD COMRADES. GO AHEAD, TURN THE PAGE OF YOUR LEXICON, AND YOU'LL SEE WHAT I MEAN._

Zexion turned a page in his lexicon and suddenly smiled at what he saw. On the two frontal pages were the symbols of a shield and tomahawk; two symbols that seemed VERY familiar to the Cloaked Schemer. "Ah, yes… Perfect." Zexion held up his Lexicon and the two symbols floated out from the pages, before halting in the middle of the room and bursting into clouds of black smoke. When the smoke cleared, two new figures in cloaks similar to Zexion's stood; from where the shield symbol once was, there stood a man with long blonde hair possibly in his mid to late 40s, wielding the very shield that was depicted in the symbol; from where the tomahawk symbol used to be, there stood a large burly looking man with short curly brown hair possibly in his mid 30s, wielding the same tomahawk as in his symbol. Slamming his book shut, Zexion stepped forward. "Vexen… Lexeaus… Welcome back."

"Ugh…Zexion?" Vexen held his head as if he had a headache. "What on earth is going on here…? Last thing I remember is…Axel!" Vexen looked up with angry eyes. "Where's Axel!? He'll pay dearly for what he did; and Marluxia too!"

"Riku!" Lexeaus gripped his tomahawk. "We have to get him to open up his heart to the darkness before Marluxia completes his plan!"

Zexion waved his hands in "cease and desist" manner. "Gentleman, please! Calm down," he cleared his throat, "Where exactly do I start…?"

_PERHAPS YOU SHOULD LEAVE THAT TO ME._ Naugus' voice echoed from Zexion's book.

"Naugus?" Zexion opened up his book and a holographic image of Naugus appeared on the pages.

_AH, VEXEN THE CHILLY ACADEMIC AND LEXEAUS THE SILENT HERO, I PRESUME,_ Naugus addressed the two elder Organization members, _ORGANIZATION MEMEBRS FOUR AND FIVE._

Vexen narrowed his eyes at the strange creature before him. "How do you know who we are?"

"Indeed; it seems rather suspicious," Lexeaus agreed.

Naugus chuckled and shook his head. _LET ME EXPLAIN._ Naugus introduced himself to the two Organization members, before filling them in on every detail that he had told Zexion earlier; from Marluxia's defeat, to Sora and Riku's conquer of Organization XIII, to where they were at this very moment.

"So, Sora actually managed to kill the superior," Vexen looked like he was in disbelief, "And he found out about Roxas anyway…"

"This world called Mobius," Lexeaus asked, "Why exactly have we been brought here in the first place? Why is it just the three of us?"

_THE THREE OF YOU HAVE HAD PERSONAL INCIDENTS WITH RIKU, SO IT ONLY SEEMED NATURAL TO HAVE YOU THREE AGAINST HIM; BUT THAT IS NOT THE REAL REASON. WHAT THE REAL REASON IS; I THOUGHT I'D GIVE YOU ALL A SECOND CHANCE FOR YOUR ORIGINAL GOAL. THE PLANET MOBIUS IS FULL OF STRONG AND RADIANT HEARTS FOR YOU TO COLLECT; YOU CAN REBUILD YOUR ORGANIZATION STRAIGHT FROM SCRATCH IF YOU WISH, _Naugus explained to the three Nobodies, _FEEL FREE TO GO ABOUT IT WHICHEVER WAY YOU FEEL LIKE IT. I JUST FIGURED I'D PUSH YOU IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION._ With that, Naugus' image vanished.

"Hmm," Lexeaus put a finger to his chin in thought, "Why would this Naugus character help us? What does he hope to gain?"

"What does it matter?" Vexen shrugged, "We live again, and now we can carry on with our original mission."

"Yes, perhaps you're right," Lexeaus decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth.

"Well, now that that's all settled," Zexion interrupted them, as he sat down in Robotnik's chair and fiddled with his computer, "I believe we can get down to business."

Vexen raised an eyebrow at Zexion take charge attitude. "Oh? It sounds like you already have a plan."

"I do actually," Zexion admitted as he seemed to be searching through some files that he had found on the monitors, "If I can just find what I am looking for…aha! I found them!" He punched a key, bringing up some documented profiles. "Gentlemen, take a look."

Vexen and Lexeaus stood on either side of Zexion to read the files on the monitors in front of them. The profiles they read each showed a photo of a strange anthropomorphic animal along with a detailed and interesting profile of their strengths and abilities.

"These," Zexion explained, "are the good Doctor's enemies; the Freedom Fighters."

"They are…these Furries?" Vexen did not look too impressed, having not read the profiles yet. "They don't look very intimidating…but I suppose looks can be deceiving." He took a look at the blue hedgehog's profile, titled "Sonic." "Hmm…super speed? Fast as…the speed of sound?" Vexen read on, his attention grabbed. "Interesting…"

"Two tails; capable of flight?" Lexeaus read the profile entitled "Tails." "Odd…"

Zexion then brought up the security videos showing Sonic and the Freedom Fighter in action against Robotnik's robots. "In this case, looks ARE deceiving as we can see here. These Freedom Fighters are reminiscent of Sora and Riku in their heroic efforts, and I am almost certain that they have the same heart essences. And what's more is Robotnik there," he pointed to the unconscious dictator, "has a strong scent of darkness radiating from him; as strong as the Superior's and his Heartless. At the same time, he has a strong craving for power and dominance and will stop at nothing to rule over everything."

Lexeaus rubbed his chin and nodded in understanding as he observed Robotnik. "So, you're saying if we separate the Doctor's body and heart; we can have his Heartless be turned loose on this world and he will start to go after all of the hearts on Mobius. That would most certainly attract Riku's attention as well as the "Freedom Fighters; a lot of heart would be gathered."

"So the Heartless will follow him like they did with the Superior's Heartless," Vexen mused, "and they won't stop until they steal every single heart. In turn, Riku and these "Freedom Fighters" will fight against the Heartless, including Robotnik's." He started to grin wickedly. "As the Heartless multiply and spread across this world, those "heroes" will start slaying them left and right… Oh, the hearts that would be set free and collected by Kingdom Hearts."

Suddenly, from the ruined Roboticization Room, one lone Heartless emerged, seeming to have survived the explosion.

"Ah, it seems that we have a survivor," Zexion said.

This Heartless appeared to be of a new breed; it looked like a cross between a SwatBOT and a Neo Shadow. It was built similar to a SwatBot; armor, dome head and all, but its limbs were long and twig fingered much like a Neo Shadow, as well as having the two beady yellow eyes opposed to the red visor of a SwatBot. It crept over to Robotnik eerily in a zombie-like manner, its yellow eyes focused on the overweight dictator. It stopped right in front of the doctor and stared at him for a moment, before plunging its claws into Robotnik's chest.

Robotnik's eyes shot open and he let out a guttural scream of agony as the shadowy claws dug into his chest and probed around his rib cage.

Finally the SwatHeartless pulled its arms out; but it was not empty handed. In its claws, the SwatBOT/Heartless hybrid held Robotnik's heart in its grasp.

Robotnik's body just seemed to go limp, before it disappeared into darkness.

Zexion took a deep breath through his nose, taking in the scent of Robotnik's darkness; the Cloaked Schemer immediately started to choke and gag, clutching his throat. "GACK! I've never smelled anything so evil, putrid and vile…"

Vexen's eyes widened as he gazed at Robotnik's heart. The heart was black and grey in color and appeared to have many pale green cracks in it; instead of sparkly pink light, the heart seemed to emanate a putrid black and green smoke. "I have NEVER seen any heart in such a state in all my research; even when I had a heart myself!" The Chilly Academic exclaimed.

"How can one heart be so tainted with darkness, malice, and evil to the point of decay?" Lexeaus questioned, appalled by how dark, festering, and rotten the Robotnik's heart appeared to be; he slowly reached out and laid a gloved hand on the rotting heart. The moment his fingers touched it, however, the Silent Hero's brain was suddenly flooded with the most horrendous images. He saw people fleeing for their lives, the tears of fear and sorrow shed, innocent animals turned into soulless machines, and the lives torn apart by Robotnik's work. He heard the screams of the dictator's victims, the protests of those who opposed them, and those same protests silenced. He felt the wicked intent of the mad doctor as he laid siege to the planet, the sorrow of those who lost everything and everyone to the doctor, and the anger and hatred felt by his enemies. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!" Lexeaus screamed out and tore his hand away from the heart, his face sweating profusely.

"Lexeaus!" Vexen was shocked by the Silent Hero's outburst. "What's wrong!? What did you see!?"

Lexeaus shook his head as he recomposed himself. "That heart," he began, "That heart belongs to no man. It belongs to a monster…one who has laid siege to his planet, taking whatever he thought should belong to him."

"I know…I can smell it," Zexion growled as he held his nose in disgust, "That heart isn't fit for Kingdom Hearts. It's far too tainted with evil." He waved a hand to the SwatHeartless. "It's only fate is to become a Heartless."

The SwatHeartless released the heart, which floated down to the ground. On the moment of impact, the heart burst into a cloud of sick green smoke that seemed to fill the entire room.

"What is (cough) going on (hack) here!?" Snively coughed out as Scar's Nobody carried him into the room in his mouth. "Where is Dr. Robotink!?"

"Why I'm right here, Snively," a familiar deep voice purred out ominously, "And I haven't felt better."

When the green smoke faded away, Robotnik stood in the middle of the room, sporting some rather disturbing changes: Robotnik's skin had changed from Caucasian to a dark tan color; his once red and black suit was now completely black, save for each "quadrant" of his suit now sporting the Heartless symbol; and his once yellow cape was now a dark blood red, also sporting a large Heartless symbol on the back. Clenching his fists (both of which were flesh and blood now), Robotnik's Heartless stretched his arms up to the ceiling. "Yes…oh yes…I feel it," he murmured, "I feel the power of true darkness…the power of the Heartless courses through me! I understand now." A legion of SwatHeartless began to rise around Robotnik's Heartless, surrounding their master like flies to excrement. "I can sense them… The hearts of those cursed Freedom Fighters," the Heartless dictator grinned, "Now I know where I can find them. SNIVELY!"

Snively squeaked, both in being dropped by Scar's Nobody and by fear of Robotnik's Heartless. "Y-Y-Y-Yes, s-s-s-sir?" He stammered.

"I am leaving Robotropolis in your hands for the moment. I'm going Freedom Fighter hunting with my new Heartless army," Robotnik grinned maliciously.

Snively's look of fear was replaced by slight confusion. "B-B-B-But how, sir? We don't know the location of Knothole Village."

"WE didn't before," Robotnik corrected, "But I do now; the powers of the Heartless shall guide me. I WILL know where to look, along with my fellow Heartless. Once Knothole Village has fallen, the Heartless and I can easily seek out the other Freedom Fighter groups across Mobius."

"H-How will you track them, sir?" Snively inquired again.

Robotnik flashed a predatory grin at Snively. "Their hearts will tell me where they are. My Heartless army shall flush those Freedom Fighters out like the rodents they are." He turned away from Snively, flicking his blood red cape out behind him. "See that the Nobodies feel welcome at my humble abode, will you?" With that, the Heartless ruler of Mobius (along with his minions) disappeared in a puff of black smoke, leaving Snively alone with the four Nobodies.

Scar's Nobody slinked past Snively and walked smoothly towards the three Organization Nobodies; his black hood slipping off and revealing his cruel smiling face. "Organization XIII, am I correct?" He inquired to the three.

"Merely a fraction of what it used to be," Vexen corrected, "And who might you be?"

"I was once known as Scar," the lion Nobody introduced himself, "until the Key bearer, Sora, along with Simba, killed my former self AND my Heartless. I am all that remains; a Nobody, like your selves."

"If you seek to get your heart back then join us," Lexeaus offered, "With the majority of the Organization gone, we're short on members."

"Might I ask what your plan is?" Scar's Nobody asked a third question.

"We purposely had Robotnik become a Heartless," Zexion explained, "So that he could achieve his goal; finding the Freedom Fighters. We believe the Key bearer of the Twilight, Riku, is with them. When the Heartless make their attack, Riku will most certainly try to stop them, along with those Freedom Fighters. Many hearts will be collected; being stolen by the Heartless, only for a Key bearer to set them free to drift back to Kingdom Hearts. Thus, those hearts will be ours to claim for ourselves."

"But how do we know if those "animals" are worthy pawns for our gathering of hearts?" Vexen asked. "Riku, we're familiar with, but these "Freedom Fighters…" All we know of them were in those profiles you showed us; we have yet to see them in action."

"If you're so concerned about it," Zexion suggested, "Why don't you go and watch the battle yourself and make your decision then?"

"Actually, I was just about to suggest that," Vexen grinned, "There's nothing wrong with a little research; I AM a scientist after all." He disappeared in a flash of darkness, headed for the Great Forest.

"Now wait a minute!" Snively protested, too little too late, "Dr Robotnik didn't say anything about-" He was cut off immediately by Lexeaus.

"I don't recall him or you giving us orders," Lexeaus said in a gruff tone, "We are NOT his lackeys, unlike you; therefore neither he nor you has any authority over us?"

"Besides, what do you care about Robotnik's safety; Heartless or not?" Zexion looked directly at Snively. "You'd rather that the "fat fool" gets what's coming to him, do you not?"

"What?" Snively was taken aback by Zexion's words. "How do you even know what I think?" He asked; his eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Are you some sort of mind reader?"

"I know a lot of things," Zexion said simply, turning his back to Snively, "I just don't like to explain how I know; simple as that."

TO BE CONTINUED


	8. Getting Comfortable

(So now we've got Vexen and Lexeaus back in the game to join Zexion. We also have Robotnik's Heartless making a Heartless raid on Knothole; how will the FF survive? How will Riku survive? What's Vexen planning? Let us read and find out.)

CHAPTER 8

With the "who's friend and who's foe" matter finally put to rest, the Freedom Fighters decided on where Riku was going to stay during his time in Knothole; by a unanimous decision, he would be sharing Bunnie's hut. Riku was a little unsure at first, considering he was going to be sharing a hut with someone of the opposite sex, but he remembered that Bunnie was…well…a bunny; the only real piece of clothing she wore was that purple leotard, and even without it Bunnie was covered in fur. While Bunnie was outside tending to her carrot garden, Riku was making himself at home inside. Sitting on the couch, he noticed that Bunnie had a lot of potted plants around; from flowers, to herbs to vegetables. 'She must REALLY enjoy gardening,' he thought to himself, before turning to the bookcase, 'I wonder what she's got to read.' Riku started to sort through the bookcase, wondering if there was anything worth reading in her selection. 'Gone with the Wind,' he thought as he read one title with some amusement, 'Why, am I not surprised?' He stopped upon another selection and shuddered as he recognized the title. 'Ugh…Deliverance…' he thought, remembering the novel's infamous "squeal piggy" rape scene, before he moved on. 'Let's see…To Kill a Mockingbird…The Outer Dark…The Orchard Keeper…cook books…some gardening magazines…Kama Sutra…!' Riku froze and did a double take at the last book. 'K-Kama Sutra!?' His eyes widened as he re-read the title, his face turning a deep shade of red. One part of his mind told Riku to move on, but another part was telling him it wouldn't hurt to take a look. Eventually, Riku caved in and submitted to the later part of his mind, pulling the Kama Sutra out and opening the "book of love" to a random page; that particular page just so happened to be the chapter of part 2 regarding sexual positions, causing his face to go even redder as he read on but a perverted grin also curled his lips. Riku became so engrossed in the Kama Sutra that he failed to hear the footsteps coming up behind him; that was until he heard the freaked out yell that was to come next…

Bunnie Rabbot had just crept inside of her hut; a full basket of carrots in one arm and a box of gardening tools in the other, the latter of which was carried under her metallic arm. Setting her gardening tool inside of the open closet near her door, Bunnie carried her basket of carrots into the kitchen with a proud smile. "Ah must say, that new fangled fertilizer Rotor concocted has been doin' wonder fo' muh little ole' garden," Bunnie commented as she took out and examined the carrots she harvested, admiring at how large and ripe looking these particular carrots looked. Out of the corner of her eye, she suddenly noticed Riku near the bookshelf, intensely engrossed in one of her books. Setting her carrots down, Bunnie crept over to Riku, curious as to what he was reading. 'Now whut could Sugah-Riku be readin'? Ah don't think he's the type to be interested in gardenin' or cookin,' personally. Maybe one of muh novels sparked his interest?' With a curious smile, Bunnie snuck over behind the couch and looked over Riku's shoulder, only to find him reading pages involving male and female rabbits engaged in many sexual positions. Bunnie's cheeks went as red as beetroots as she realized just which book Riku was reading. Feeling embarrassment well up inside of her, she shouted at the silver haired key bearer of twilight.

"RIKU!! JUST WHUT IN HIGH HELL ARE YOU READIN'!?"

Riku shrieked in surprise and shot up fro the couch, throwing the Kama Sutra in the air, almost hitting the roof with it, before it came right down on his head and ricocheted onto the floor at Bunnie's feet. Holding his sore head, Riku turned around to find a madly blushing Bunnie staring at him questioningly. Riku looked down at the Kama Sutra, which was open to yet another page of sexual positions; that just seemed to add to the already present tension in the room. "Bunnie…!" Riku sweated and fumbled for words, "I was…I was just…"

"Readin' Bunnie's little ole' sex book, yeah ah know," Bunnie said in an embarrassed and slightly miffed tone, blushing hotly as she picked up the book and stuck it back in the book case.

"Well…I wouldn't really call it a "sex book," exactly," Riku said with a nervous smile, "maybe if I was an immature little kid, I would. But I'm a mature adult…well actually a teenager more than an "adult," but still…" Riku cleared his throat and just cut to the chase. "What I mean is, I…er…well…" He fumbled for words, "I know full well what the Kama Sutra is and heard about what it contained," he explained, still blushing, "I just wanted to see for myself."

"It's ok, Riku," Bunnie sighed in a forgiving tone, though still blushing, "It's only natural you'd be curious and want to take a look; especially at the "positions" you had your little ole' eyes glued too," she giggled a little.

"Yeah…" Riku chuckled nervously, "Hey I'm a guy, after all," he shrugged.

"Oh?" Bunnie turned with an amused smile, "Does that mean you boys really do think about sex most of yer lives?" She joked

"What!?" Riku's blush disappeared and his embarrassment was suddenly replaced with shock and irritation at Bunnie's (joking) claim, not knowing it was a joke, "H-Hey, c'mon! You don't actually think every guy is a possible sex-starved pervert, do you!?" He snapped, visibly flustered.

Bunnie just giggled; amused at how upset Riku seemed to get. "Aw calm down, sugah; Ah'm just playin' with ya'll."

"Hmph," Riku calmed himself and sat down, realizing it was just a joke, but he was still a little miffed, "Whatever."

Bunnie giggled again as she walked up to Riku, gently running her flesh and fur hand against Riku's chin. "Ya know," she said quietly with a grin, "you're actually pretty cute when ya get all flustered and upset like that."

Riku's blush returned and he loosened up as he felt the silky soft fur of Bunny's hand against his chin, feeling Bunnie's smooth and delicate fingers rub against his bare flesh.

Bunnie could help but smile at Riku's goofy grin. 'Sugah-Riku's actually a pretty swell guy once ya get to know 'im,' Bunnie mused, as she stroked around his face.

"Oh, Bunnie?" A small voiced piped up; a young two-tailed fox with sneakers color inversed to Sonic's stepped in.

"Oh, howdy Tails," Bunnie greeted the youngest of the Freedom Fighters, "What brings ya'll up here?"

"Rotor told me to come and get you; he needs your help with the construction of some new machine he's building," Tails explained, "He said something about it hopefully being able to jam any signals Robotnik sends to his bots."

"Oh mah, I'd bettah get ovah there and help Rotor out," Bunnie removed her hand and started to walk away from Riku, who realized Bunnie's hand was no longer there as he fell to the floor face first.

"He-he-he-he-he-he… You're funny, Mr. Riku," Tails giggled at Riku's face plant.

Riku grunted as he pulled himself up and got back on his feet, a little embarrassed by what he just did, "Yeah, just like in the cartoons," he laughed sarcastically, before facing Tails. "By the way, there's no need to call me MISTER Riku," he told Tails, "It makes me sound like an old man," he followed with a chuckle as he sat back down.

Tails wandered over to the couch Riku was sitting on and sat right beside him. "Hey Riku…can you show me that cool key/sword thingy again?"

"Oh, you mean this?" Riku ask rhetorically as he opened one hand and the Way to the Dawn Keyblade matearliazed in a swirling flash of light.

"Yeah!" Tails bounced in his seat excitedly. "What is that again?"

"Well, Tails," Riku began, "This weapon's called a Keyblade; a key/sword fused weapon for fighting against Heartless, seeing as how this weapon is not only what they're drawn too, but the very weapon they fear most. Also, it can help unlock or seal the "Keyholes" of the world, so the Heartless can't sneak into the world anymore."

"So it's literally both a sword AND key?" Tails summarized.

"You got it," Riku confirmed as he ruffled Tails' head, making the young fox giggle. "Hey Tails, how old are you?"

"I'm 7 years old, why?" Tails looked at Riku curiously.

Riku looked shocked when he heard Tails' age, amazed that someone so young lived with the Freedom Fighters. "Wow…only 7? How did you become one of the Freedom Fighters at such a young age?"

"Well, I'm not a Freedom Fighter yet," Tails said looking a little annoyed, "Aunt Sally and Sonic say I'm too young to go on missions yet."

"What about your parents?" Riku asked.

Tails' annoyed look turned to one of sorrow at the mention of his parents. "Robotnik captured them when I was just a baby," he said with tears in his eyes, "I don't remember much about them because I wasn't even 1 year old when Robotnik captured them. If…if it wasn't for Sonic and Aunt Sally, I'd be a robot too…" Tails started to whimper softly. "I don't even know if they're still there or if Robotnik took them apart…"

Riku mentally slapped himself as he saw how sad and helpless Tails looked. 'Smooth move, Riku!' He yelled at himself in his mind. 'You just had to pry in and open up some old wounds for the poor kid!' With a worried and regretful look, Riku gently took Tails into his arms and hugged him tightly. "Tails…I'm sorry…I shouldn't have pried in like that…"

"N-No it's ok…" Tails said with a slight sob as he snuggled Riku, "Y-You didn't know… It j-just still hurts…"

Riku nodded in sympathy. "I bet…" He hugged Tails, petting him as he would a puppy.

Outside, Sonic was busy talking with Sally over their new guest. "So, Sal, whaddya think of Riku, so far?"

"I'm not really sure what to think, Sonic," Sally admitted, "He's not from this world, his power seems uncanny and unique, and while he doesn't know anything about Mobius he seems to know about what's out there…beyond our little planet."

"Well, all I know is, it's better off that he's with us instead of Buttnik," Sonic said, "Who knows what blubber bolts could've used him for or done to him."

"I'm personally curious as to what or who brought him here," Sally told Sonic, "Robotnik couldn't have done it, that's for sure. Plucking someone out of another dimension and placing them in ours would take great power and magic…"

Sonic nodded in understanding, realizing just what Sally was getting at. "And we only know of one person with that kind of power…"

"Naugus," they said in unison, as they looked at each other and nodded.

"He's the only one who could do it, Sal."

"His power over the void must be growing stronger, enough to reach out to other worlds even; that would explain how he brought Riku to this world."

Unbeknownst to Sonic and Sally, they were being watched from the Void, within the icy crystal lair of the very being they spoke of.

"Ah, you are correct, Princess," Naugus said to Sally's image, "But what you and the Quickster don't know is that I also took the liberty of bringing some old acquaintances of Riku to Mobius as well. Don't worry," he cackled, "You'll be meeting them sooner than you think." Waving his hand over the image bubble he was viewing, the scene changed to that of inside Robotropolis, showing Lexeaus and Zexion talking with each other as Snively listened.

"Zexion," Lexeaus suddenly thought of something, "Do you really think it's alright to let Vexen purposely get in Robotnik's way for his "research?" Won't he be putting himself in danger?"

"Vexen can take care of himself," Zexion informed, "he knows what he's doing and he's not stupid. Besides, Riku and those "Freedom Fighters" haven't fulfilled their purpose yet. If the Doctor were to take their hearts now, it would spoil our plans."

"Wh-What plans?" The squeaky voice of Snively suddenly piped up with suspicion.

"Nothing you should concern yourself with, Snively," Zexion replied seriously.

"Nothing to concern myself with?!" Snively repeated, sounding agitated, "Now listen, you! As much as I despise working for that fat fool, this is Dr Robotnik's city! You can't just waltz on in and take it over!"

"Oh, but I already have," Zexion stared long and hard at Snively, "I don't see what you're so uptight about. I believe that I gave Robotnik the perfect way to hunt down his target."

"By turning him into one of those…those "things;" you call THAT, perfect?" Snively questioned

Zexion simply shrugged, "He seems to show no animosity towards his new form. I'd say he's rather pleased." He studied Snively for a moment. "Perhaps you would think differently if you were transformed…"

"N-No!" Snively panicked, "Anything but that!" Snively turned and bolted for the door, only for Scar's Nobody to block his path with an evil grin.

"Going so soon?" Scar's Nobody purred. "How rude…"

"Indeed," Zexion agreed as he stood up and walked toward Snively, conjuring up his lexicon, "there's nothing to be afraid of Snively. Perhaps you just need some time to think; I know the perfect place!" Zexion opened up the lexicon with a high pitch laugh.

Snively shrieked as he was enveloped in an all too familiar ray of light, before winding up in the dark and stormy vortex from before. "No!! Not here!! Not gain!" Snively screamed as he floated around helplessly surrounded by a swirling mass of debris.

Zexion slammed his lexicon shut, with a chuckle.

"So, how long do you plan on keeping him inside your pocket dimension?" Lexeaus asked.

"Oh not long," Zexion smiled, "He won't last long before he succumbs."

Meanwhile, in the Great Forest, Vexen materialized out of darkness, checking out his surroundings. "So…this is the Great Forest…I wonder where Robotnik and the Heartless are," He wondered to himself. Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he saw six Heartless shadows milling about near a great hollow tree. "Aha…it looks like they found their prey," he mused, "the party's about to begin, so I'd best not miss it." He vanished again in a flash of darkness.

TO BE CONTINUED


	9. Robotnik's Ambush

(Robotnik's advancing on Knothole, while Vexen's hiding in the shadows. Riku and the Freedom Fighters better catch on soon or prepare to do battle before it's too late! I don't own the Freedom Fighters, Sonic, Riku, or Organization XIII; I don't own Sonic, SatAM or Kingdom Hearts, as they are owned by Square-Enix, DIC, and SEGA respectively.)

CHAPTER 9

"Feel better?" Riku asked gently, as he held Tails in his arms and petted the young fox as if he were a sad puppy, noticing the kit's sobs had died down.

"I'll be fine," Tails said quietly as he looked up and wiped his eyes, showing a smile, "thanks Riku."

"No problem, Tails," Riku smiled back and ruffled the kit's hair, making him giggle.

"D'awwww, now ain't that a cute little ole' moment?" Bunnie's voice cooed out softly from the doorway.

Riku looked over his shoulder to see Bunnie smiling at them fondly as she stood in the doorway. Something about Bunnie's warm smile just made Riku's heart melt.

"Well, Riku, I've gotta go now," Tails said as he dropped down to the floor, "Sonic and Aunt Sally promised they'd train me on some stealth techniques. I've gotta be silent and swift when I sneak around Robotropolis." He wandered out of Bunnie's hut through the door. "Bye Riku! Bye Aunt Bunnie!"

Riku and Bunnie both waved Tails goodbye, as he left to meet up with Sonic and Sally, leaving them alone.

"Ah saw you and Tails bondin' together," Bunnie said with a smile.

"Hm?" Riku turned to her. "What's that you said?"

"Ah said, Ah saw you and Tails back there. What you were doin' for him was really sweet, ya know? Him, losin' his parents like that," she frowned a little with a sad look, "it was tough for the little sugah-fox. It was tough for all of us, losin' our families like that…" A tear escaped from her eye.

'Shit…everyone here's really suffered their share of hardships…' Riku thought somberly, 'And all to one man…who literally has an iron fist. This "Robotnik" could really give Ansem a run for his money.'

"We've lost our homes…our families…our friends…and some of us even lost our free will," Bunnie went on sadly, before looking at her metal appendages with a little bitterness, "Ah may not have lost mah free will, but these roboticized parts courtesy of Robotnik are worse than any ole scar…" More tears escaped from her eyes as she remembered her roboticization at the hands of Robotnik.

"And here I was, earlier, accusing you of enhancing them yourself for eco-terrorism," Riku said guiltily, hanging his head a little, "that was BEYOND insensitive of me, not even knowing what you went through."

Bunnie sniffled a little and shook here head, wiping away a tear, "It's ok, sugah. Y-you didn't know…"

"Still…" Riku took a deep breath and walked towards Bunnie, before throwing his arms around her and hugging her tightly yet comfortingly, "I'm sorry…sorry for the accusations and jumping to all the wrong conclusions with you AND the others."

Bunnie gasped a little as she felt Riku suddenly hug her tightly, taking her emotions by surprise. Blushing lightly, Bunnie hugged back just as tightly and lovingly, letting her self cry on the human boy's shoulder.

Riku just stood there, hugging Bunnie for all it was worth, letting the bunny girl cry her eyes out on his shoulder and feeling his heart go out to her. 'Poor girl,' he thought, 'I can't even imagine what "roboticization" must be like… But the way she is now…it must be excruciating both mentally and physically. Having your flesh and bone being converted to metal, piece by piece, HAS to be painful… If it were bad enough getting half roboticized, I'm afraid to think what it's like becoming fully roboticized.' He gently stroked Bunnie's back as he held her in his comforting embrace.

Tails, meanwhile, was practicing being stealthy as he hid behind the bushes, trying to remain hidden and undetectable. 'Gotta stay silent,' he thought, 'can't let the bad guys see me, or it's all over…' He crept silently and swiftly across the bushes, before stopping at the very end, spying a few stacked wooden crates. He carefully peeked out of the bushes, searching carefully for anyone who might be watching. 'Nobody's around…so all I have to do is just rush over behind those crates while the coast is clear, then I can-' A sudden rustling in the bushes behind nearly made Tails jump, but he tried to keep calm for his training. Figuring it was either Sonic or Sally trying to test him, by pretending to be an ambushing enemy; Tails crept towards the source of the rustling. 'Nice try guys…but I'm on to you,' he thought before he grabbed the bushes and thrust them open.

SPROING! A small black insect-like shadow suddenly leapt out of the bushes.

"AAAAAAH!!!" Tails cried out and ran from the bushes, before being pounced on by Sonic and Sally. "AH!"

"Gotcha little bro!" Sonic said with a smile, "Ya gotta keep quiet if ya wanna be stealthy Tails."

"Sonic's right," Sally agreed, "If you shout like that when something surprises you you'll give yourself away."

Tails groaned, realizing what he just did. "I couldn't help it! That "thing" surprised me."

"What thing?" Sonic inquired, "What are you talking about?"

"Some big black bug shadow leapt out of the bushes," Tails said, "I thought it was you or Aunt Sally behind, trying to psyche me out, but when I pulled back the bushes it just leapt out and nearly gave me a heart attack."

"Big black bug?" Sally looked confused. "What exactly did it look like, Tails?"

"Well it looked like…" He looked away from Sally, as something caught his eyes. "Like those things!" He exclaimed in surprise and pointed.

Sonic and Sally looked in the direction tails was pointing, to see 3 large insect-like creatures; black as night with beady yellow eyes and little tree branch-like claws.

"Whoa! What the heck are those things!?" Sonic shouted and went in a defensive stance.

"Nicole! Analyze the creatures before us," Sally ordered as she pointed Nicole at the insectoids.

"No analyses available at this time, Sally," the little computer beeped, "Creatures detected are of unknown origin and body structure."

"Unknown origin and body structure?" Sally repeated with confusion and worry as she glanced at the beings before her.

"They definitely don't look like one of Robotnik's junk piles," Sonic commented with narrowed eyes. "Whoa! Would you look at that?" His eyes widened in shock as he suddenly saw the creatures begin to individually split and multiply into individual entities.

"They're multiplying…" Sally said in slight fear as the insectoids began to advance toward them, still growing in numbers.

"Hold on! This hedgehog's gonna squish those bugs!" Sonic zipped towards the insectoids before leaping into the air with a sonic spin and launching him self at one group; he buzz-sawed right through the creeps, causing them to burst into puffs of black smoke. "Whoa!" He shouted as he landed to the side and watched them dissolve. "What the heck are these things made of?" He asked himself, before a few of the bugs started to jump at him, slashing their claws wildly. Sonic jumped to the side, and leapt off the ground with a jump kick, knocking a few bugs out of the air and causing them to land with "poof" sounds as they too dissolved into smoke.

Sally had drawn out her laser pistol and was firing at any "shadow-bugs" that were coming at her and Tails, whom she stood in front of, trying to protect him. "Stay back, Tails! We don't know what these things are capable of!" She shouted, before blasting one out of the sky.

Sonic buzz-sawed through another group of bugs; he nimbly dodged the quick slashing claws and of another group that had suddenly snuck up on him out of nowhere. "These things just keep commin' and appearin' outta nowhere! What gives?" He cried, before launching a speedy jump kick at them, only to have the beasties suddenly "melt" into the ground, literally becoming shadows as they moved about erratically on the grass. "What the heck!?" Sonic shouted as he watched the shadows dart about, kicking and stomping them in vain. "Sal, these things are turnin' into shadows!"

"I already know!" Sally replied as she tried to shoot at the scurrying shadows, succeeding in only blasting earth and dirt, even if she shot a shadow at point blank. One shadow darted right under her before she could shoot, before it reformed into an insectoid right behind Sally and Tails.

"Aunt Sally!" Tails cried out as the bug suddenly pounced at them.

Whirling around, Sally quickly took Tails and leapt to the side, throwing their selves out of harms way; the shadow bug only managed to slash Sally's right boot, cutting through the fabric but not penetrating the skin.

Sonic was fighting off "shadow-bugs" by the numbers, beating some into black smoke, while trying to strike at others which became shadows on the ground; he seemed to have everything under control. Suddenly some of the "shadows" regained their original form and pounced at Sonic from behind without warning. Before Sonic caught fight them off, the insectoids just piled on top of him, pinning him down. "NYAH! Get offa me!" He yelled, trying to squirm out, but they kept piling on top, pinning him down. "Sal!"

Sally and Tails, however, could not help Sonic, as they two were swarmed by the shadow bugs. Sally was holding Tails like a child, trying to protect him as the creatures piled on top of her, scrambling and clawing at her back. "Sonic! I can't get free!"

Tails quickly scrambled out of Sally grip and made a run for it. "Sonic! Aunt Sally! I'm going to get help!" He curled up his Tails and flew off, spinning his tails like a helicopter rotor, with the strange creatures tailing him a she started to head for Bunnie's hut. "Aunt Bunnie! Riku!"

Riku was still comforting Bunnie as he held the now calm girl, when both were brought out of their moment when they heard Tails' cries. Riku broke the embrace and ran to the window, just in time to see Tails running towards them chased by creatures he recognized all too well. "What the-HEARTLESS!?" Riku leapt out the window and summoned up his Keyblade to his hand. "Tails! Get out of the way!"

Tails cried out and tripped as a Heartless leapt at him, flailing its claws about wildly at the fox boy. It would have most likely taken Tails' heart, if not met with a swipe from Riku's Keyblade that smashed right through its shadowy body, turning it to black smoke.

Riku landed on the ground, in front of Tails, facing the Heartless before him. "I should've known! Scar's Nobody was just the tip of the iceberg! Now I've got you goddamn Heartless to deal with, again!" Riku dashed towards the nearest Heartless, being met with furious swipes from their claws, but jumped over the Shadow and turning around to face it, assaulting it with one swipe from his Keyblade. More Heartless swarmed him, going from shadows on the ground to solid Heartless, only to be met with quick horizontal swipes from Way to the Dawn, causing black smoke to billow and puff everywhere along with hearts to float up to the sky. "How the hell did they find this world!?" Riku wondered aloud as another small group of heartless came his way. "Someone must've brought them here!" Levitating into the air with dark energy, Riku unleashed his "Dark Aura" attack; he shot forward, cleaving right through the party of Heartless like a steak knife through meat, before cleaving right through them again and again from other angles, slicing his Keyblade through the Heartless, releasing smoke and hearts up into the sky. The Heartless never stood a chance as Riku assaulted them from various directions like an angry bee and pierced through their shadowy bodies. Riku finished his assault with an explosion of black flames from the ground, destroying the last of the Heartless.

'Wow! That was so cool!' Tails thought as he scrambled to his feet.

'Oh mah stars!' Bunnie thought with wonder, 'Sugah-Riku jus' slashed those shadow bugs up like they were nothin'!'

"Riku!" Tails ran up to the silver haired boy frantically. "Sonic and Aunt Sally are at the mercy of those shadow bugs! You have to come and help them!"

'Son of a bitch! They're spreading through the village quickly!' Riku thought worriedly. "Take me to them!" Riku ordered.

"This way!" Tails ran back to where Sonic and Sally were, with both Riku and Bunnie hot on his heels.

When the trio got back to where Sonic and Sally were, the two were completely swamped in Heartless, unable to move or cry out, except for muffled pleads for help. However, the Heartless attention was soon averted from Sonic and Sally, the moment Riku appeared.

"Hey, Heartless!" Riku shouted out. "Why don't you leave the furries alone and pick on a more delectable target?" He taunted, showing them the Way to the Dawn Keyblade. "DARK FIRE!" Riku raised a free hand and shot a ball of black fire at the Heartless, burning some into smoke and shadows, while knocking others off of Sonic.

Seeing his chance, Sonic leapt to his feet. "Thanks for the help, Riku! I'll handle this! Juice time!" Sonic revved up his feet and took for the Heartless pile around Sally, running around in circles at a velocity high enough to blow the Heartless off the squirrel princess.

Sally could feel the weight of the Heartless lift off of her, coupled with the swirling winds and sounds of Sonic's speed. When she lifted her head and sat up on her knees, she saw Sonic holding his hand out to her to help her up.

"You ok there, Sal?" Sonic asked with a smile.

Sally took Sonic's hand as he helped her up. "What happened to those creatures? I thought they buried you too?"

"They did," Sonic admitted, "Even the ole' hedgehog was getting' swamped by those shadow bugs… But Riku over here just saved our butts from those bugs," He pointed a thumb at Riku.

"Thanks for the help Riku," Sally smiled and bowed in thanks, "those weird black insects had us surrounded and swamped."

Riku, however, had a worried frown on his face. "Those were no insects," he said gravely, "Those were Heartless; the same Heartless I told you about earlier."

"WHAT!?" Sonic, Tails and Sally all cast fearful looks at Riku.

"Hey, ya'll!" Bunnie suddenly arrived, only to see the terrified looks on her friend's faces, along with the grim facial expression on Riku's face. "Oh mah… Is somethin's nasty commin' in our little ole' way?"

Riku simply nodded. "You're lucky I came when I did; those Heartless could have very well taken your hearts. Frankly, I don't know HOW they found this world or who brought them here, but I do know that if they came here, they've already found this world's Keyhole and they're likely after this world's heart and Keyhole."

"Correct, young Riku," a deep, sinister voice purred, "but then of course, being a key bearer, it's most likely common knowledge for you."

Riku's eyes widened as the predatory purr poured into his ear. "That voice…is that…?"

"Robotnik!?" Sonic suddenly went on edge and looked around feverishly. "Wh-what's going on here!? That was Robotnik's voice I heard! He can't possibly be in Knothole Village!"

"Oh, but I can, hedgehog," Robotnik's voice stated with a smug, arrogant tone, as if he had already won a game he was about to play, "and I already am."

Sally's face went pale at the thought of Robotnik actually finding the secret home of the Freedom Fighters. "Wh-Where are you, Robotnik?! Show yourself! How did you get here?"

"Oh, it's simple really…if you're a Heartless that is," a portal of darkness opened up in the ground, as if a large puddle of oil was spilling onto the earth. Seconds later, the balding, mustachioed, overweight form of Robotnik arose from the ground. Indeed, it was Robotnik, but he had some significant changes; his Caucasian skin was suddenly a few tones darker as if he had gotten a deep tan, both of his arms were now flesh and blood, instead of one being roboticized, and his normally red and black suit was all black with each quadrant sporting a Heartless symbol. "Ah, good afternoon, Princess," Robotnik's Heartless mock bowed to a horrified/enraged princess Sally, "and to you, my dear Riku," he grinned maliciously at the silver haired key bearer.

"Robotnik," Riku stepped forward in disbelief, "you're a Heartless!?"

"Indeed, I am," Robotnik chuckled proudly, "I have your friend, Zexion, to thank for it."

"Zexion!?" Riku stumbled back in unpleasant surprise and disbelief. 'No way…. No way! That's not possible! Zexion's dead!' Riku thought frantically. 'How could he have survived?' "That's impossible!" Riku protested. "Zexion's dead! I defeated him!"

"Maybe so," Robotnik reasoned with an evil smile, "But to my knowledge, he's at Robotropolis and very much alive, along with his two friends… I believe their names were Vexen and Lexaeus. It's because of those three that I learned of the Heartless." All around Robotnik's Heartless, SWAT Heartless began to appear out of puffs of black and purple smoke, standing there with their long armored arms and claws waving about and their soulless yellow eyes staring at Riku and the Freedom Fighters from their dome shaped heads.

"Whoa!" Sonic exclaimed as he got into a fighting stance. "What the heck are those; are they some new type of SWATbot?!"

Riku growled as he griped his Keyblade and stared down the new intrudes. "Not exactly…those seem more like SWATbot/Heartless hybrids!"

Up in the treetops above, Vexen watched the entire scene with interest. "So, now the specimens are set and prepared," he told himself with a smile, "it's time for my little experiment to begin! Heh-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh…"

TO BE CONTINUED


	10. Ansem Strikes Back!

(Ok, yes, I know. This is LONG overdue. I've been busy with College work as of late, so that's why. But I don't want this story to die; especially not after viewing the SatAM DVD set. I don't own SatAM OR Sonic; DIC and SEGA do. I also don't own Kingdom Hearts, Riku, Scar or Organization XIII; Square Enix and Disney own them. I DO own Scar's Nobody, however. Just not Scar his self.)

CHAPTER 10

Pointing his Keyblade threateningly, Riku showed he meant business. "Why don't you just stop talking and start fighting?!"

"Start fighting, you say?" Robotnik asked rhetorically, "You really want to lose quickly don't you?"

"Heh," Riku gave a cocky smirk, "I WON'T lose. I've dealt and triumphed over guys like you before, Heartless and Nobody alike."

"Such bravado," Robotnik taunted, "Let's see if you can live up to it, and defeat my Heartless!" Robotnik floated up into the air, and the Swat Heartless started to advance and attack.

Riku jumped away from the swinging claws of one Heartless, and held up his Keyblade in a blocking manner to defend against the lasers fired upon him.

Sonic ran and leapt about as he dodged the firing lasers from the Swat Heartless, before jumping at the nearest one, pouncing on its face and bouncing across their dome heads like stepping stones.

Bunnie was karate kicking Swat Heartless left and right, thrusting her metal legs into their half metal/half darkness bodies while dodging their swinging, extending metal claws.

Sally dodged to one side as one Swat Heartless lunged at her in a feral matter, spinning its metallic claws about like a tornado, before landing on the ground. Before it could fire its laser at Sally however, Sally whipped out her blaster pistol and shot at the creatures eyes, blinding it before she shot it straight through the chest.

Riku dashed right through a line of Swat Heartless, cleaving right through them with his Keyblade as he charged back and forth, watching as they dissipated into darkness, releasing captive hearts into the sky. He dodged the swinging claws of one Heartless while parrying those of another, before deflecting laser fire back with his "Dark Shield."

Meanwhile, however, Swat Heartless were spreading and wreaking havoc upon Knothole Village. Laser bolts were fired, setting the ground and buildings ablaze with fire, and causing Freedom Fighters to run for their lives or stand and fight. Blaster pistols were fired, swords were swung, and fists flew as the battle raged on. At first it seemed like the Freedom Fighters were managing to stand their ground as Heartless fell, exploding into dark smoke and hearts drifting up into the sky, but the Heartless continued to grow and multiply, slowly overtaking the hapless Freedom Fighters.

A young male horse swung his sword wildly as Swat Heartless surrounded him. It seemed as though he was holding his own as he easily struck three down, but suddenly he was caught off guard, as one Heartless struck him from behind. The creature raked its dark metallic claws along the stallion's back, drawing blood and knocking him down, before he was shot through the back by a fatal laser blast that erupted right through his chest, killing him instantly. The stallion's eyes went blank and lifeless as he dropped to his knees, and vanished into nothing before he hit the ground, leaving only his heart glowing faintly in his place before it touched the ground and transformed into another Heartless.

One by one, different Freedom Fighters started to meet the same fate, as they were dealt killing blows, making their bodies fade from existence and leaving their hearts to become new Heartless. Others continued to fight on; defeating Heartless left and right, not knowing the very Heartless they were defeating may have been their former comrades at one point as their hearts drifted up into the sky.

"Perfect," Vexen grinned with glee as he watched, "Everything is going according to plan… Kingdom Hearts shall absorb these fresh hearts one by one until it is ready." He surveyed the battles below him with interest. "Riku's skills are superb as ever, I see. Hmmm… These Freedom Fighters aren't putting up too bad a fight; especially not that one called Sonic." Vexen's eyes soon came upon the fleeing form of the young two-tailed fox, Tails. "And that must be that flying fox boy… Perhaps he would make a good specimen for me to study?" He disappeared from his spot on the rooftop.

Tails, still being inexperienced at combat, had wisely taken Sally's advice to find shelter from the battle, which was no easy task. Heartless were everywhere, fighting against Freedom Fighters, taking them down one by one, and converting them into Heartless themselves. Tails ran, or more accurately flew, for his life, Swat Heartless hot on his trail. He darted in the air from left to right as he avoided firing laser shots, searching for a safe haven. Various Freedom Fighter huts lay in shambles, or burning with hot orange flames, leaving little cover. Tails darted into the Great Oak Slide, and flew up to the top as if it were a tunnel. As he saw light at the other hand, it seemed that he had escaped from his pursuers and could hide safely as he flew out of the oak tree. His accomplishment was short lived however, as the moment he exited the tree, he was surrounded by a circle of Swat Heartless that slowly began to advance on him. "S-Sonic… Aunt Sally… Aunt Bunnie… ANYONE! HELP!" He cried out in fear as he cowered defensively, expecting the worst.

KA-SHINK!! KA-SHINK! KA-SHINK!

The sudden collection of noises caused Tails to lift his head up to see what was happening. To his shock, his Heartless pursuers stood there incased in a field of ice, completely immobilized and helpless. A few seconds later, the frozen Heartless were shattered into ice cubes, scattered all around. "Wh-What the… What happened!?"

"I happened, my dear boy."

Tails looked over to his right, to find the source of the voice. A middle-aged human man, possibly in about his late 30s or early 40s, with long blond hair stood before him. He was dressed in a strange hooded black cloak and carried around an odd shield-like weapon. "Who…are you, mister?"

"My name is Vexen," Vexen introduced himself to Tails, "You don't know me, but Riku does."

"Y-You're a friend of Riku's?" Tails asked hopefully.

"Well, not really a "friend." I prefer the term "acquaintance." Either way, I am not with the Heartless," Vexen sugarcoated his motives, not wanting to arouse suspicion. "I see you're looking for a safe haven away from the swarms of Heartless."

"I am, but I'm also worried about Sonic, Aunt Sally and the others," Tails explained, "They're still down there fighting for their lives!"

"Oh, I wouldn't worry too much," Vexen said with a smile as he walked towards Tails, "In situations like this, I believe it's best to follow an old saying."

"Wh-What saying's that?" Tails asked worriedly.

Vexen just grinned and placed a hand on Tails' head. "I believe the saying is…" he began, when a cold breeze suddenly began to blows around Tails, followed by the appearance of floating ice crystals, before…

SHIIIIIINK!

In a flash of white cold light, Tails was frozen solid in a block of ice.

"Keep a cool head!" Vexen grinned maliciously as he finished his sentence. He cackled menacingly as he disappeared into darkness, taking Tails with him.

Meanwhile, back at Knothole, Sally was firing her pistol left and right as she fended off Heartless, but they kept advancing as she tried to dodge their laser fire. "Riku! Sonic! Bunnie!" She called out. "We have to check on the others! Everyone needs to-AGH!!" Sally cried out as she was hit in her left side by a stray laser, falling to the ground. Moaning in pain she held her injured side as she struggled to get up, only to have a Swat Heartless loom over her menacingly. Gasping in horror, she backed away, as the creature pulled a clawed arm back, and thrust it right at her. Sally shut her eyes in horror, bracing herself for the strike.

CHAWACK!

The sickening sound of flesh being pierced sounded out throughout the battle field. But yet, Sally felt nothing. Why was that?

"M-My princess…" A voice muttered weakly.

Sally's blood ran cold as she recognized the voice and opened her eyes. What she saw made her heart drop to her feet; in front of her, taking the full brunt of the Heartless' fatal attack, was Antoine. Sally felt sick to her stomach as she saw the dark beasts' claws sticking right out of Antoine's back. "A-Antoine?" She choked out.

Riku, Sonic and Bunnie all halted their attacks and looked up, just in time to witness Antoine's noble sacrifice before their eyes.

"S-Sugar-Twan!?" Bunnie gasped as she saw Antoine's grievous wound.

"Antoine…no…" Sonic suddenly felt numb all over.

Riku was at a loss for words as he witnessed the scene before him, but almost felt like he could drop his Keyblade at any moment.

Antoine's eyes held a blank stare as the Heartless retracted its claw from his body. His arms went limp at his sides, before he slowly leaned forward, his body sparkling and turning transparent, before he fell to the ground, disappearing from existence. All that remained of Antoine was the shimmering image of his heart as it floated in mid air.

"Antoine…oh, Antoine…" Sally whimpered breathlessly as her pretty eyes filled with tears. "ANTOOOOOOOIIIIIIIIINE!!!!" She screamed out in sorrow as Antoine's heart floated up to the sky and vanished.

"Such a pity," Robotnik said with mock sadness, before grinning evilly. "But I assure you he won't be alone. Look." The Heartless dictator pointed over to another part of the battlefield.

Sally glared hatefully through streaming tears at Robotnik before she looked to where she was pointing, only to have her heart break once again. "N-No! No… Not him too!! Rotor!!"

In front of Sally, Sonic, Bunnie, and Riku, Knothole's fellow mechanic, Rotor, stood with the same blank eyed expression as Antoine had had, as the Heartless behind him pulled out its claw from his back. Much like Antoine, Rotor, too, leaned forward and fell to the ground, vanishing from sight and leaving his heart behind to float up into the sky.

"ROTOR!!! ANTOINE!!" Sally screamed out to the sky, before she buried her face in her hands and sobbed hysterically.

"Ant…Rotor… This can't be… This is WAY past un-cool…" Sonic shook his head in disbelief, as his own tears fell from his eyes.

"Rot…Sugar-Twan… This ain't happenin'…it can't…" Bunnie choked out through her tears as well.

Riku's eyes, however, did not portray sorrow. What they portrayed was fury; absolute fury and hatred towards Robotnik and the Heartless, for taking away the hearts of so many in this village, for taking the hearts of two innocent people right before their eyes, for destroying the last place these people had to call their home. They would pay dearly for this. Riku could feel his inner darkness growing inside, reacting to his rage and hatred. His grip on his Keyblade tightened as his fists balled up and shook.

Robotnik was about to taunt Sonic, Sally and Bunnie once more, when he sensed a strong presence of Darkness nearby, and turned to Riku's direction. "What is this? This power…it feels like the same one I witnessed before…only stronger." When he focused his gaze on Riku, his eyes widened in shock. The boy stood in the middle of the Heartless, shaking with rage as a strong aura of darkness billow and grew all around him. "This power…such a strong darkness to it… Who IS this boy? What kind of power does he truly possess!?"

Riku looked up at Robotnik with furious eyes. "What kind of power!? HOW ABOUT I SHOW YOU, YOU MONSTER!? RAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!" Riku thrust his arms into the air and screamed with rage, causing a strong wave of dark energy to erupt right from his body, engulfing and destroying the many Heartless surrounding him.

Sonic, Sally and Bunnie shielded their eyes from the blast as wind and dirt kicked up from the explosion, Heartless around them starting to back away as if in fear. When the wind died down, the 3 Freedom Fighter uncovered their eyes as the dust settled. They looked to where Riku had stood to be met with an unnerving sight.

In Riku's place, there stood a tall man with long white hair and dark brown skin. His white hair seemed to be style with two "wings" at the sides of his head, with one "crest" at the top. His youthful face bore a sinister smirk and cunning yellow irises. He was dressed in a long black hooded cloak, and carried the same Keyblade that Riku carried, from the bat-wing blade, to the demon/angel wing handle, to the heartless symbol key-chain.

Robotnik, meanwhile, was in shock and confusion as he witnessed Riku's transformation. "Riku!? What manner of trickery is this!?" He demanded.

"Riku?" The man repeated, before staring long and hard at Robotnik. "Riku is out of the picture for the moment. The name is Ansem, now!" He pointed his Keyblade at Robotnik. "You dare to try and challenge me? Maybe we should see who possesses the stronger darkness."

'Ansem!?' Bunnie questioned, mentally. 'Wasn't that the name of the Heartless leader that possessed Riku; the very one that Riku even took the form of!?'

TO BE CONTINUED


	11. Vexen Intervenes

(Well, THAT was a surprise, wasn't it? Looks like Ansem/Xehanort's Heartless isn't quite dead after all or perhaps Riku's just using his form to his advantage, much like he did for the majority of Kingdom Hearts 2. We shall find out soon enough, along with what Vexen's done with Tails. I don't own Kingdom Hearts, Sonic the Hedgehog, or SatAM. They're owned by Square-Enix, Walt Disney, SEGA, or DIC.)

CHAPTER 11

"Ansem, hm?" Robotnik repeated the man's name with interest. "I sense a power within you, similar to that of the Heartless."

"You are correct, Robotnik," Ansem spoke with a grin, "As Ansem, I was the leader of the Heartless at one point, and sought to consume all worlds with the power of the Heartless and fill Kingdom Hearts with darkness. I took possession of young Riku, and used him as a vessel to conduct my plan. But there was one who dared to stand against me with the power of the Keyblade; Sora, the Key bearer. In the end, Sora and his friends defeated me and obliterated my existence with the power of light; or so they thought. I was not completely destroyed, as you can see. A small essence of my self still lingers inside of Riku, waiting to be released. Whatever power he possesses, I possess too." Ansem held up Way to the Dawn and smiled at it. "And, apparently, since he's able to use the power of the Keyblade himself, that power is also available for me."

Robotnik's eyes narrowed. "Are you insinuating that you wish to fight me for control of the Heartless?"

Ansem gripped Way to the Dawn tightly and held the Keyblade in the same, single-handed, right arm arched back manner that Riku did. "Perhaps I am, perhaps I am not. What does it matter at this point?" With that, Ansem charged at Robotnik with a lightning fast slash of his Keyblade, cutting right through the Heartless dictator's dark body.

Robotnik growled in pain and clutched his side. The attack hurt, but he refused to show it, and simply chuckled. "Was that supposed to hurt? That was nothing more than arthritis pain to me!" He lied, laughing evilly, standing proudly, before the center of his outfit glowed bright blue and fired two separate streams of blue energy bullets at Ansem in a wide spread angle.

Ansem dodge rolled to the right repeatedly, trying to keep out of the line of fire of the first stream, before getting up and barely blocking the next set of bullets in time. He ran straight at Robotnik and jumped over a third stream of bullets and swinging his Keyblade down upon the Heartless dictator.

SWOOSH!

Ansem was suddenly halted in mid air as Way to the Dawn's blade was grabbed straight out of the air by a demonic blood red shape, which Ansem soon realized was Robotnik's cape. The said cape being tossed Ansem up into the air.

Robotnik fired two black flames from his eyes, which spiralled around one another before hitting Ansem in the chest, before teleporting above Ansem and delivering a hammer blow to his back, striking him heavily with both hands.

Ansem was sent plummeting to the ground like a meteor and would have hit the ground with a tremendous force; if he had not suddenly disappeared in a flash of darkness right before hitting the ground.

"What!?" Robotnik spluttered and looked around. "Where is he!?"

"Excuse me," Ansem's dark voice purred out from behind.

Robotnik turned around, only to be met with two quick Keyblade strokes against his massive belly, before a shower of Keyblades pelted against his giant girth, forcing him out of the air. Robotnik, however, somewhat retained his balance and landed on his feet, albeit with a loud thud and feeling like he was stung by a swarm of killer bees.

Ansem landed gracefully on his feet, a smirk on his face. "Ha-ha-ha… Poor, pitiful Robotnik. Your Heartless power has not yet matured."

"Not yet matured!?" Robotnik repeated at Ansem's challenging tone. "I have ruled over this planet with an iron fist and a black heart for years! My power is BEYOND mature!" He opened his mouth, releasing a cloud of black smoke.

Ansem covered his mouth trying not to inhale the thick black smoke. "Hiding, are we?" He called out as he trod through the smoke. "Show yourself, you fat fool!"

"It would be my pleasure," Robotnik bellowed out, before charging through the smoke with an energy charged shoulder dash, ramming into Ansem like a charging bull.

Ansem grunted loudly as he was thrown back a few yards, before Robotnik appeared from the opposite side, striking him again. Ansem went flying through the air in the opposite direction, before suddenly stopping in mid-air. "Not so fast!" He suddenly shot up into the air, before launching his "Dark Break," swooping down upon Robotnik with fierce Keyblade strikes upon his head, before landing in front of the overweight Heartless dictator.

Robotnik dropped to one knee and grunted painfully, Ansem's aerial attack leaving him in a minor daze. "Impressive," he growled, "You're living up to your hype." Seconds later, however, he seemed to recover instantly and stood on his feet. "But, this old dog knows some new tricks."

"Hmph, perhaps your power's not in such an infant state after all," Ansem mused, rubbing his sore shoulder.

"What can I say?" Robotnik boasted, grinning proudly. "Obviously, some of us our just BORN to be evil, rather than made."

"True," Ansem agreed for once, "But there's one other difference." He kept his free hand behind his back as he charged it with black flames.

"And that is?" Robotnik inquired with a raised eyebrow.

"Some of us THINK they can control the darkness when it's really the one controlling them," Ansem paused for a moment as he looked down upon the ground. When he lifted his head up, though, his eyes suddenly changed from dark and sinister to rebellious and defiant. "And some of us HAVE been controlled by the darkness, but now know how to use it against scum like you," He suddenly spoke in Riku's voice, before launching "Dark Firaga" fireball at Robotnik.

Robotnik gasped in surprise, his cape familiar wrapping around and shielding him from the attack. "That voice… What on Mobius?" He narrowed his eyes in annoyance. "Who are you really? Are you Ansem? Or Riku?"

"Technically, I'm both," Ansem-Riku shrugged, "As Ansem/I said before, there's still a part of Ansem in my heart; I just have to keep an eye on him to make sure I'm the one controlling HIM for once, instead of the other way around. The darkness isn't a toy, Robotnik," he said, pointing his Keyblade at the overweight Heartless, "It can be used by some, but it can use others. It uses, and it is used."

"Hm-hm-hm-hm…ha-ha-ha-ha…MWA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!" Robotnik chuckled softly, before bursting out into laughter. "HA-HA-HA-HA-HA! What a joke! You're saying it as though the darkness is the one using me!" He laughed again before casting Riku and evil grin. "Well, let's just see who's using who, shall we?" Robotnik's arms became encased in black metal, resembling dark versions of his former roboticized limb.

"Fine by me, but you're going to regret those words," Riku said as he took his stance again, keeping his Keyblade raised above him, pointed at Robotnik.

From not too far, Sonic, Sally, and Bunnie watched as Robotnik and Ansem-Riku battled against each other, darkness against darkness. They could do little but watch, though, as many SWAT Heartless surrounded them, keeping them prisoner.

"Mondo-Freaky!" Sonic exclaimed. "Riku, Ansem, or whoever that guy is, is packin' some serious power there."

"He's really goin' to town on ole' Robotnik there," Bunnie agreed.

Sally, however, said nothing. She wasn't even watching the fight. Antoine and Rotor's deaths played over in her mind; their life less expressions, their blank stares, their limp bodies, their hearts drifting up into the sky. Sally couldn't bear it; two close friends since childhood, gone, just like that. To add to her pain, almost everyone in Knothole Village, save for her, Bunnie, and Sonic were gone; lost to this plague known as the Heartless. She didn't even KNOW where Tails was. All Sally wanted to do now was cry.

Vexen watched as the match between Ansem-Riku and Robotnik raged on, before casting a glance to the captive Freedom Fighters. "Hm-hm-hm… The experiment has taken quite an interesting turn," he mused with a devious smile, "Although it appears Robotnik has too much of an advantage. Heh-heh-heh-heh… Sorry, Doctor, but you can't claim your victims just yet. WE still have a use for them; to kill off your precious Heartless and surrender all the Hearts to us."

Ansem-Riku and Robotnik, meanwhile, continued to battle, as Ansem-Riku launched a Dark Firaga at Robotnik, only to be countered by Robotnik's "Eye Fire" shot. Both balls of black flame connected with one another, and cancelling each other out in a large puff of smoke.

Ansem-Riku brandished his Keyblade and charged at Robotnik like a high-speed train, attempting to slice right through his obese body.

Robotnik, meanwhile, charged back at Riku with a shoulder charge, like a bull going for a red cape, his shoulder generating a powerful energy wall of darkness.

Both combatants charged at each other with speed and force. They drew closer by the second until…

CHINK! CHINK! CHINK!

Ansem-Riku and Robotnik were thrown back a few yards; but not by their attacks. In the middle of where they almost collided, three large icicles stuck out of the ground.

In a flash of darkness, Riku shifted back to his original body. "Ugh," he grunted as he struggled to his feet, "What the hell…Icicles?"

"What IS this!?" Robotnik bellowed, glaring at Riku.

"Hey, don't look at me!" Riku shot back. "I had nothing to do with this!"

"Liar!" Robotnik shouted. "You must have had some help from somewhere! Where are they hi-!" SHOOM! Robotnik's sentence was cut off as, in a flash of cold white light; he was frozen solid in a block of ice.

Over on the Freedom Fighter's side, the SWAT Heartless, too, had been frozen in ice, much to Sonic and Bunnie's amazement. Sally, however, remained oblivious in her sorrow.

"Hm-Hm-Heh-Heh-Heh," a high pitched laugh littered the sky.

Riku tensed up at the sound. "That voice…" He narrowed his eyes. "I KNOW that voice."

A portal of darkness suddenly opened up near the frozen Robotnik, and the black hooded figure of an Organization XIII member suddenly appeared. The figure reached up and pulled his hood back, revealing the familiar long blonde haired, middle-aged face of the Organization's No. 4.

"Vexen!" Riku shouted out. "You're…alive!? That's impossible! Sora defeated you, and Axel finished you off!"

"Well I AM standing right before you, aren't I?" Vexen asked rhetorically, a malicious grin on his face. "It's such a pleasure to see you again, dear boy."

"That's your opinion, not mine," Riku spat, "How did you survive?!" He pointed his Keyblade threateningly at the Chilly Academic.

"Oh, wouldn't you like to know," Vexen said, his face turning serious, "but that's none of your concern." He patted the large Robotnik ice cube beside him, his smile soon returning. "What do you think of the makeover that I gave Robotnik here? He did quite a bit of damage, didn't he?"

"You mean…YOU'RE the one who made him like this!?" Riku demanded.

"Oh, not just I," Vexen waggled a finger; "Lexaeus and Zexion had a hand in it too."

'Lexaeus? Zexion? They're alive too!?' Riku remembered his last encounter with that Organization trio, during his journey through Castle Oblivion. Only he knew about and fought Lexaeus and Zexion, however; the only one of the trio that Sora had fought was Vexen, until said Nobody was supposedly executed by Axel.

Sally, while still grief stricken, overheard EVERYTHING that Vexen had said. 'Antoine… Rotor… Tails… Everyone's gone… Our last safe haven against Robotnik…all gone… All…because…of him!?' Sally's head shot up, her beautiful blue eyes filled with tears and hatred. "HOW COULD YOU!?" She screamed, making Sonic and Bunnie nearly jumping out of their skin. "You've taken away our home! You've killed almost everyone here!" She sobbed angrily. "You've ruined our loves now! Now we have absolutely nothing! HOW COULD YOU DO SOMETHING LIKE THIS, YOU ASSHOLE!?" Sally glared at Vexen with tear filled rage.

Vexen simply looked back at Sally. 'My, she's certainly upset…FAR more than Sora was when I tried to drop hints about the Riku Replica's identity.' Then his eyes widened as he sensed the essence of Sally's heart. 'Her heart… My word! It's so pure…full of light, hope, love, compassion, determination…such a strong and powerful heart. She could prove VERY useful later on.' He started to smirk, before it grew into a smile.

"Wh-What are you smiling at, you bastard!?" Sally shouted angrily.

"You've got SOME nerve bub!" Sonic joined in, "you mess up ole' Buttnik into some dark monster and trash our home like this! You think you're getting' away from this smellin' like roses?!"

"You've cost us a lot of our friends, our home, and Sally-girl her happiness, yuh creep," Bunnie agreed, "you're cruisn' for a bruisin,' sugar!"

Riku smirked at Vexen as he heard the Freedom Fighter yell, "Looks like you've already made some new enemies, Vexen." But to Riku's surprise, and annoyance, Vexen still kept on smirking.

"Hm-Hm-Hm-Hm… Such defiance, such valor, such determination, such strong hearts… How amusing," Vexen cackled.

"Is that all you can say, Vexen?" Riku challenged with a frown. "If you're looking for a fight, leave them out of this! Come and get me, I'm right here!"

Vexen simply shook his head. "Oh please, Riku. You honestly think I came here to pick a fight? Well you're wrong. I'm here to throw you a bone and get you out of this mess…for now and least."

"Help us? …That's not like you, Vexen," Riku said with suspicion in his voice.

"No tricks this time, Riku," Vexen raised his hands, that cocky smile still on his face, before he flicked his index finger.

Riku was suddenly engulfed in a portal of darkness. "What the!? Vexen!?"

"Relax," Vexen waved a hand dismissively, "it's merely a portal that will transport you elsewhere. The "Freedom Fighters" will be transported there too. Count yourselves lucky; you'll be far away from Robotnik here. Consider it as a rare bit of charity, from me."

"Charity!?" Sally challenged. "Because of you we've lost every-!!" Sally was cut off as the portal swamped over her and took her elsewhere.

"Sally-girl! Whut in high hell is-!?" Bunnie, too, was cut off as a portal of darkness swept over her.

"Sal! Bunnie!" Sonic turned to Vexen with a glare. "What did you do with 'em you-!?" Sonic was engulfed in darkness as well, and taken.

"Vexen," Riku began before the portal transported him elsewhere, "WHAT are you, Lexaeus and Zexion plotting now?"

Once again, Vexen just smirked at Riku. "Why Riku… You and Sora have fought against us before. What do YOU think we'd be doing?" He asked coyly, before the portal closed up over Riku; the boy disappearing from Vexen's sight. Vexen looked over to the frozen Heartless, a few feet before him. "Hm… Waste not, want not." His trademark blue shield appeared in his hand, before producing a large blade of ice from the top of the shield. Wielding the makeshift "ice sword," Vexen darted towards the frozen SWAT Heartless in front of him and sliced right through them, appearing right behind them with his back turned to them. The moment the ice blade disappeared from Vexen's shield, the frozen Heartless shattered into ice shards, releasing the now free hearts into the air, where they gradually faded away into the sky to join with Kingdom Hearts. "A little contribution," he told himself, "Well, it looks like the experiment was a complete success. I've got all the data I need, including a little "sample" from earlier. Now I'd better take my leave before the fat fool breaks free." Vexen disappeared in a swirling mass of dark energy, just as Robotnik broke free of his ice prison with a loud, angry roar.

TO BE CONTINUED


End file.
